Yesterday will not be remembered for much except, perhaps, the return of Christopher Jullien.
That was great to see.
The fans in the ground gave him a great reception and it was long overdue. It’s been 14 months since he played. Some of us wondered if we’d ever see him in a Celtic shirt again. Hopefully we’ll see him at full fitness soon.
Yesterday was a flat game in a flat atmosphere.
The game itself was not very memorable. But there was one moment, aside from Jullien, which I think we will recall in times to come, and we can thank the low-key atmosphere in part for it.
It was the moment when TV viewers were stunned to hear Ange bawling out his players from the touchline.
And he was loud. Very loud.
And he was unhappy. Very unhappy indeed.
In fact, when you see Ange’s usual calm, it stood out a mile how furious he was.
To me, his shouting was like sweet music, and I daresay a lot of the fans felt the same way. Because for years I have been lamenting the awfulness of the backward pass, and the way it slows our game down to a crawl.
You see this most clearly in those games where the opposition wants to put every man behind the ball; all the backwards pass does is gives them time to reform their lines and continue to lock us out.
To get through that kind of system, you need to move the ball quickly forward, and that’s what Ange wants us to do and for just a moment yesterday the frustration we have all felt on occasion was clearly expressed on the touchline by the boss himself.
What a sweet moment it was.
And it should scare the Hell out of our rivals, that and his statement after the game that for all their excellence so far that this team still hasn’t come close to meeting his own personal ambitions for them and the club.
The man is a class act, and although he is also a proper gentleman with the fans and the media alike – in spite of the press’ utter stupidity in dealing with him – he should not be mistaken for a soft touch because he’s far, far from that.
This man will not let us rest on our laurels.
He is pushing this forward at white knuckle speed.
I don’t know about you, but I’m buckled up and enjoying the ride. It’s already been quite a thrill.
We are all Ange!
c,mon Ange is it no about time that you brought Broony back into the fold ,theres nothing for him in Aberdeen ,having him about Lenoxtown and the bench would help you as Broony was good at getting the tone and the message sent no problem .
Much has been made among pundits about julien ‘not being given the chance yet’. That touchline rant and big Chris’ cameo prove one thing. Ange’s football is uncompromising and full throttle, don’t meet the standard theres somebody else who will.. there’s been more half time subs made in the last month than i can remember in my lifetime. Jullien will certainly get up to speed, and to be honest watching our best and coolest centre back of recent times look nervous and flustered on the ball only shows how much he’s missed as the team’s progressed. He was right to leave him out so long when fit, and we’ll see the best of julien when he gets there. Just shows how high the standards are so far, let alone what ange is expecting them to be