Wow. Check this one out.
AEK Athens’ manager has “dismissed” Celtic as “nothing special” and is talking big about how his club expects to go through in their tie against us over the next fortnight.
This kind of story could have come right off a Sevco site, or from an over-zealous Greek publication doing what national newspapers are meant to do; talking up the chances of their club teams.
Not here in Scotland.
The Celtic were “dismissed as nothing special” quote came from The Daily Record and when I say it came from them I mean it because nowhere in the article itself is there the slightest suggestion that the manager of AEK Athens said any such thing. The hack simply made that assertion up, taking from the interview what he wanted and putting his own personal feelings into it for good measure. And you know already this is a writer who doesn’t want us to win.
This isn’t unusual for the hacks in this country, but I never cease to be infuriated at it.
As I said in a piece earlier today, I am constantly appalled at the way they profile our opponents as if they are clubs we will struggle to get past. Every year they manage to dig up some ex-pro who will tell us why we’re over-matched and going out, and if it’s someone we’ve never heard of that’s not something they particularly worry about.
So what did the AEK manager actually say?
He said that his team has always been confident of going through the qualifiers and getting into the groups and they knew they would have to face sides like Celtic along the way. They have been preparing for the game against us because they knew we were good enough to beat Rosenborg.
“I always expected Celtic to get through against Rosenborg so that comes as no surprise they made it,” he said, and then he added this. “We have studied a lot of footage of Celtic. They are obviously a good side who get into the Group Stages, but we certainly think it is possible to beat them.”
A good side. Possible to beat them. Where in God’s name did the writer get “dismissed as nothing special” from there? Unbelievable. Is there any need for that kind of thing in an article which actually praises us, and where the opposition manner shows us respect?
Abysmal “journalism” again from this utter rag.