Watching the boss in his last two pressers, it is obvious that he is not a happy chap at the moment when it comes to some of the questions he’s getting asked. This is not new, of course; Ange has been eating dirt from the media in the form of daft questions for a long time now. But up until recently, he mostly handled it with equanimity.
Sure, there was some snarking from him, mostly in relation to the questions from the BBC, but for the most part the big guy was calm and handled the media with good humour.
That’s retreated a little in recent weeks, and especially the last twice, when he’s actually gone on the attack over the criticism of the team in Europe. He is entirely correct to be angry, and if you know what to look for there are even signs that the message is getting through loud and clear.
Take Keevins this morning; he likes nothing better than to have a pop at Celtic, and it’s there, in vague outline in his article. But the piece he turned out was a full-throated assault on Van Bronckhorst. He knows better than to have a direct pop at Ange right now. The Celtic boss has him flapping, and he’s not the only one who is.
The manager has had enough.
That he was so ready to use words like “bias” and “agenda” the other day, and that he even had a go after a game we had won comfortably, is a sign that this guy isn’t going to take this rubbish any longer.
He’s been here long enough now to recognise the reek of double standards. He is aware of the way the press tries to twist everything. And having been told that it was his failure to consider the defensive side of the game that led to defeats which he knows full well are because we failed to put the ball in the net, he’s decided to hit back.
The difference is not subtle. To win games you need to create chances. If we’d had our backs to the wall in these matches, as the Ibrox club has in all four of its games, we’d be due criticism for not making the effort to actually win, but we’ve played these games on the front foot and made enough opportunities to win each of them.
So he knows that lumping us in with the no-hopers is ridiculous and he knows it’s designed both to put pressure on our team, and on him, and to supply the Ibrox club with an alibi.
For the second time in a row, he’s demanded that the critics keep us out of their plague pit.
This man has tolerated as much of our press as he’s willing to stomach.
They should tread carefully unless they enjoy feeling his boot on their backsides.
Good article James.
I’ve noticed over the last couple of days on Radio Scotland some back pedalling by “journalists ‘, most notably Tom English, trying to extricate Celtic from the debacle of Sevco in Europe.
It’s almost as though they’ve had some kind of warning, or maybe feel that one is on the way if they don’t stop their nonsense.
Not before time ,Celtic are to big a entity in Scottish football ,to be taking crap like this from media nobody’s .that includes reporters and there paymasters.
Auld Spew Heavins is a shite bag who picks on vulnerabilities.
The rest of the stenographers follow the party line: if sevco are struggling they must bring Celtic into it somehow.
The facts are that Celtic is at least a level above the zombies. That is the way things are and it won’t change for the foreseeable future.
The ludge brithers cannot deal with this, hence the feelgood pishful thinking and bollocks from the Scottish meedja.
Anyone who saw that shite today at Motherwell knows this to be true.
sevco is awful and it won’t get any better anytime soon.
Get used to it munters.
Pish STAINED AULD Spew, never quite got over being chucked oot ae Bairds after we binned Barnes!! Hiding in the Soup Kitchen that is Radio Schnide BAWAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Seems tae me wi these halfwits and their sly questions, they’re all dyin tae be the one that breaks his composure and gets him tae lose his temper. They would see that as some sort of career achievement. Agree he definitely knows whit they’re all about , tho it’s good tae see him givin it back tae them. They were fuckin terrified of wee Fergus and Martin O’Neil. They knew better than tae push them. The big man’s in the same mould imo.
Just hope he now turns his guns on Scottish Refs and their ‘kultural’ interpretations of the rules of the game.
21st Century and Man has walked on the Moon.
Yet in little wee Brigadoon in the best wee bigoted Kuntry in the Wurld the Scottish brand of Masonry is alive and flourishing.
Cheats and corrupt to the core.
Makes ye boak.