Celtic Should Use Ange’s Pre-Match Media Chat Tomorrow To Put This Leeds Thing To Bed.

According to Alyson Conroy, John Kennedy was scheduled to take the pre-match press conference today, and so any talk of Ange pulling out at the last minute is erroneous.

Kennedy did as well as could be expected.

I remember a press conference he did for the manager when Rodgers was here.

“There has been nothing said that would suggest Brendan isn’t going to be here. Brendan just gets on with his job. I remember the chat at some point last season was that if he got a second Treble, an English team would come calling and he’d be gone. We’re getting to that point in the season again and these stories will surface in the run-in. From working with him, he’s in a very good place. He’s a terrific manager who will hopefully be successful again this season.”

That was in February 2019.

Rodgers was gone a few days later, so forgive me if I don’t find anything he said today particularly funny.

The truth is, I think fans do need to hear it from Ange Postecoglou himself.

A lot of us were looking forward to the media’s round of questions today because we were fairly certain that the boss would sit there in front of them and dismiss this as nonsense.

That his assistant fronted up instead risks creating far more questions than it answers.

I don’t believe Ange is hiding from the media, in no small part because he can’t.

Prior to the game tomorrow, after he’s named the team, he will face the same questions he would have faced today had Kennedy not already been scheduled to sit in the hot seat, and as much as I believe Kennedy, the only way this truly ends is either when Leeds appoint someone or we hear a definitive “no thanks” out of the manager’s own mouth.

Look, Leeds have had their third knock-back in terms of the job.

That suggests that most people aren’t confident that it’s as good a gig as some up here have suggested.

There are good reasons why high-profile candidates have turned it down, but with every name they check off their list they get one closer to Ange, and I cannot be alone in thinking that he should be the one to very firmly close the door on this.

Most of us find this subject wearying and tiresome.

I daresay the manager does as well.

Which should theoretically make it easy for him to deal with it.

This is a straightforward question and Ange talks straight so a straightforward answer should be forthcoming.

Fans are entitled to hear some measure of commitment from the people at our club, and it’s not too much to ask.

The managers of West Brom, Valladolid and Feynoord have ruled this job out, and whilst almost all of us believe that Ange would stay at Celtic Park even if the offer comes, it might be time he did the same and publicly put this matter to bed.

When this question is put to him tomorrow, as is absolutely inevitable, that is what he should do.