The Red King Hypothesis

I haven't seen the Traynor in a while now but the last thing he said to me was 'remember, your memories and perceptions aren't always real'.
How curious.  I thought about this when I was in the Chip restaurant with Graeme Souness and we were approached by some thug who turned out to be related to Jack McConnell of all people - Bridget's brother or something like that.  He came up to the table and spat in Souness's dinner and called him an 'orange bastard'.  I thought to myself, this can't be real; Celtic fans aren't sectarian and I'd stake my career as a crusading anti-bigotry campaigner (I can't really call myself a sports journalist these days as I rarely write about it, instead concentrating on my great war against sectarianism in Scottish society or as I like to put it, Rangers) on it but it was true nonetheless and Souness slowly rose to his feet and calmly whispered to the thug, 'I'll give you an opportunity to apologise for that.'
The background chatter died out as everyone in the place strained to hear what was being said.
'I'll no' be apologising to a bigoted hun bastard like you,' guffawed the thug without a hint of irony as he looked back at his table full of cretins who from their faces could tell that their friend had gone too far.
'I'll give you one more opportunity to apologise for spitting in my plate and if you don't then at least I'll give you a fair chance by knocking you out using only my thumbs but then, and here's the rub, when you're lying unconscious, I'm going to break the little finger on your right hand so that when you're looking at the plaster cast in hospital or years from now as the finger aches in the cold winter nights, it'll remind you that I offered you two opportunities to apologise and you didn't take them.'
The thug then tried to head butt Souness but the old Ranger was too quick and moved to the side before smashing his elbow into the side of the thug's head, knocking him unconscious and leaving him pole axed on the ground.  Then Souness bent over him and as promised, broke one of the thug's little fingers with a sickening crack which sent everyone in the restaurant running for the door.
As we walked down Ashton Lane, I said to Souness, 'I thought you were going to knock him out using only your thumbs?'
'Yes,' he replied, turning to me and smiling a sneaky smile and in that moment I saw the mischief in the smile of a tiger.
'I did say that.  I lied.  I also told you we were going for a simple meal to discuss football.  I lied about that too.'
And as he said it, Robert Fleck jumped me from behind and put a hood over my head and I felt myself being bundled into the back of a van and driven off.
The end game had begun.