There’s a wonderful tweet going around today, authored by our new defender Erik Sviatchenko, which shows him posing with a young fan.
The wording of the tweet is what’s made it go viral; his sentiments are precisely those you’d wish to see from a footballer at our club.
“Always grateful of people who wants a photograph taken or have an autograph. A privilege. Once I was that young boy” is what it reads.
How good is that?
How respectful of the supporters, and his own privileged position?
Not only does this guy look like he has a cool head on the park, but he has all the right attributes off of it to be a wonderful ambassador and role model for the club.
This is how respect should work; a two way street where you give it and receive it in equal measure.
Erik’s outlook multiplies the goodwill we have for him, because he’s earned it by this one simple, but very meaningful, gesture.
This is exactly the attitude the late great Tommy Burns used to try to infuse in every player who went to Celtic Park and signed on the dotted line to play in the Hoops. He wanted them all to have that appreciation for the fans, and for the club.
Contrast this with the manager across the city.
That baby bald head of his is perfect for him; all he ever does is greet and throw his rattle out the pram.
Today’s he accused Ronny Deila of disrespect; that’s ridiculous, a bit like having the management at the Barrowland asking you to keep the noise down a bit.
He’s got no concept of respect at all.
I’ve written a couple of articles on him already; he moans about everything, and everyone. From plastic pitches to shrunken ones; from refereeing to the way other managers set out to face his team; he’s asked to speak to the SFA over the rules on the park, the regulations off it and now wants to ban the Under 20 league because his team isn’t getting the benefit, what with them being skint and absolutely rank rotten, sitting in 8th.
This guy … the press loves him, and for no reason that I can see.
From the minute he set foot in Scotland – without a major achievement in the game to his name, by the way – he’s been feted and gushed over as if he were Pepe Guardiola.
But even our hacks should draw the line at the point where he’s allowed to make a comment like that, about a fellow manager, and have it go essentially unscrutinised.
Even a little scrutiny would have revealed just how stupid Warburton’s point actually was.
In a statement that mangles the English language about as much as you should be allowed to get away with before it becomes Mandarin, he said:
“If Ronny did say that then I think that’s disrespectful because you are entitled to your own opinion … I think the one line for me that jumped out from that interview is number one, there’s a good grass pitch and number two there’s a good artificial pitch. If you’re happy to accept second best then go for the artificial pitch, if you want to set the higher standards then you go for the best quality of grass pitch. That for me was the one sentence that summed it up.”
Is it just me who thinks that sums Warburton up?
Because isn’t he saying, albeit in a form that you’d most expect from a drunk man in George Square on a Saturday night, exactly what Deila said?
Isn’t he agreeing with him here?
Because I’ve read that a hundred times and it sure as Hell sounds like he is to me.
So what in God’s name is he actually moaning about?
What you’ve seen today is two types of behaviour that revolve around respect.
On the one hand is our decent and generous central defender who, in five minutes in Scotland, has already adapted himself to his new circumstances and is behaving with the utmost decorum.
His respect is given, and so our respect is earned.
Warburton doesn’t want to give his. He demands ours and everyone else’s in return.
He, too, has adapted to life in Scotland, but then he’s not at Celtic and so his sort of respect isn’t the same one as we’re so pleased to see Erik show the world.
Warburton’s is the Sevco variety, and that’s why he’ll never truly have any.