IMHO, the "lastest" hate feast on their part started roundabout 2007, when we were doing well in Europe and they found an ear with UEFA via Nil by Mouth et al to blackmail us with regard to sectarian singing. Once UEFA - thanks to that Catholic Austrian game obeserver who challenged UEFA's own conclusion that there was no case to answer and suceeded (FTP was the main spot of bother) - "banned" TBB and FTP, the Scottish authorities followed suit and the Yahoo-guided mhedia whipped themselves into a frenzy, essentially re-defining the word "sectarianism" as anything "anti-Irish", "anti-Catholic" and the like, while turning a blind eye on any pro-IRA stuff et al. It was open season and grew worse, as they themselves hardly ever got punished and got ever more bold in their stuff. They intsigated that "behaviour bill" ... only that it backfired on them too and now they seek to abolish it again.
That's the Yahoo part.
As for the rest ... IMHO, it mainly comes from years of inferiority and being out-classed - support, money-, and trophy-wise. The mid 80s spring down Pittodrie and Tannadice way came to a quick and final stop once Souness arrived, even though both teams provided some good competition over the years. I am not sure when the bitterness at Tannadice reached the current levels of essentially downright hatred, but it might have to do with them failing to take any sort of advantage of our absence and us not dying.
2012 ... well, there sure were haters about, people who wanted to see us dead and forgotten. Not least amongst the hordes beyond the Clyde, in Aberdeen and Arabland. As for the rest, IMHO they would have acted quite similar had it been the Yahoos going down. Getting one over a successful club and its boisterous support was always on the cards - and would have been much the same had this been done in Germany and Bayern. Obviously, it would never have happened that the support were given the chance for "direct democray"in the way it was handled in Scotland.
That it bit quite a few of those Premiership teams and their support in the back was but little consolation for us, seeing how Dunfermline, Dundee United, St. Mirren, Hibs and Hearts all face relegation and anguish.
Nowadays, the social media and internet era has taken it to a new level, not least when those with the biggest chance to spout their half-truths, half-facts and downright lies seemingly have pole-positions in that sector. Just look at the Morelos / McGregor affair and the amount of anti-/non-Rangers people given time and space to mouth their opinion, with virtually no more authority on the matter as your everyday-FFer. But opposed to the latter, these opinion go out on air, in the net and fill headlines elsewhere, not least in places who don't double-check the information or have any insight as most of us do.
