Has Any Celtic Manager Ever Got Stupider Press Questions Than Ange Postecoglou?

I don’t think any Celtic manager of recent history has ever had to put up with the kind of nonsense that Ange Postecoglou does. The questions he gets at pressers are beyond ridiculous at times. No wonder he frequently shakes his head in bewilderment.

Yesterday he was asked about fans on the pitch. Nothing to do with him.

He was asked questions about the government and its virus protocols. More in his area, but still not a football question or something he can properly answer, although I thought the answer that he gave was absolutely magnificent.

He was asked about his record in cup competitions; this is an attempt to suggest that his record there isn’t very good. He answered that very well too.

He was asked utterly banal questions about why he was photographed sitting at a dinner table with the Ibrox boss Giovanni Van Bronckhorst. That was a certainty to come up, but the question about it is no less ridiculous.

Only in a country like this would anyone even care. Neither of these men are steeped in all this “West of Scotland” guff; if they are friends, then good on them. If they are able to relax in each other’s company because they both understand the unique pressures of this place but without being swallowed in the bitterness, then great.

It’s as if the media is piqued because these guys don’t hate each other’s guts. I’ve always said that the hacks are as responsible as anyone for promoting the game here through the prism of a toxic and poisonous “rivalry” and this question was a demonstration of that.

As it turns out, the whole thing was a coincidence; they happened to be out and bumped into each other and stopped off for a chat. The amount of chatter this generated is truly remarkable; conspiracy theorists on both sides were having a field day. Something like this should never arise at a national cup final press conference.

You could tell from the way he answered it that he was seriously pissed off having to. It’s the way he says things, speaking to the questioner like an adult talking to a child. He must wonder whether this is some weird parallel universe he’s stepped into here.

And finally, someone asked him if he’s going to wear a suit instead of his jumper.

Apparently it will be some breach of “tradition” if he doesn’t.

He answered that question with the sort of resigned air of somebody who is getting used to such ridiculousness but never wants to. He pointed out that he will have one or two more important things to think about.

But this is the press in Scotland. Every time he sits in front of them there is stuff like this, pure fluff that he’s never had to deal with before in his career. You wonder if he secretly enjoys it, but I doubt it.

He wants to talk football, that’s his thing, and he probably can’t understand why the hacks want to talk about everything, and anything else.