The Celtic Boss Takes A Ruthless, Multi-Layered Swipe At Our Departing Striker.

Today at his presser, Ange was at his ruthless best and in his gunsights was Giakoumakis, who now that we have replacement in the building was not spared in the slightest.

The manager has made it clear that there is some displeasure at the player and he even hinted at what that was by mentioning Instagram, where Giakoumakis famously expressed his frustrations at Ange not that long ago, in a move many thought cost him valuable game time.

“It will get concluded fairly soon,” he said of the player’s impending departure. “To be honest, it’s not on my radar any more. I will probably hear it about the same time as you guys. Maybe if you are on Instagram, you will hear about it earlier than me. It’s not on my radar, I don’t expect him back in the group, but it hasn’t been finalised yet.”

That’s a man who has washed his hands of the whole affair, and whose frustration with the player and the situation has leaked out a bit.

The reference to Instagram is clearly deliberate and a sign of why he’s so pissed off. Players discussing things outside of the dressing room is bad enough, but it’s the height of stupidity to advertise it on social media, leading to a lot of speculation and gossip in the media. This was when I started to think a January exit was the best solution.

I believe that’s probably when Ange realised it too. There was a certain inevitability about it from that point forward, and his departure is now all that’s left.

I’ll write about Giakoumakis when he goes, but for the moment the manager has the floor and today he used it to send a very clear message to the rest of the squad. Not that he needs to, because everyone else is clearly onboard … or they’d already be out the door.