The media is full on nonsense today about how Ange has “endorsed” the game against the Ibrox club which is due to take place in Australia in November, unless of course someone cancels it first, as I said earlier might well happen.
I listened very carefully to Ange last night on this, and I wrote a piece about it from the game last night when Kenny McIntyre pushed the Old Firm line on the radio before kick-off.
I thought it was an appalling, and transparent, attempt to stitch the big guy up.
Ange at no time mentioned the Ibrox club. Not even once.
He said that taking Celtic to Australia would be good for Scottish football.
He talked about his “selfish” satisfaction that he is all over the promotion materials … as he should be, as this whole thing is about him and that’s how it should have stayed before we added this circus act to it.
The thing is, he is proud enough just taking our club on tour in his homeland and the impression I got was that he thinks showcasing our team on behalf of the game here is really all he cares about.
He is enthused about the idea of managing Celtic in Australia; he doesn’t give a damned who we are playing in the games themselves.
The idea that he feels any overwhelming sense of excitement because of who the opposition in one of the game is … well that’s a complete invention of the media, although I’m sure that it’s a shabby interpretation our club is pretty happy they are pushing.
The cynicism of all involved in this is numbing. Ange is handling himself brilliantly, and once again has refused to criticise the fans for their views … he still has no clear idea how angry we are over this though.
The idea that he gives a damn who we play – far less that his excitement stems from the fact that it’s the mob across the city – is a barefaced lie.