Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Celtic v Motherwell - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - May 14, 2022 Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates winning the Scottish Premiership with the trophy REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Ange Postecoglou was in utterly dismissive mode as he batted aside a ‘We’re all doomed’ question at today’s media conference to preview a League Cup tie at Motherwell.
Mark Benstead of Sky Sports decided to speculate that Celtic’s season could fall apart after the World Cup Finals which will halt the SPFL season from November 12 until December 17.
Normally Scottish football closes down for two weekends in January to give everyone a breather but with the World Cup being held in Qatar that break has been brought forward and extended.
Postecoglou is well used to the negativity of the Scottish media, he wasn’t particularly bothered by today’s effort from Benstead as he delivered a very dead plan reply to the doom and gloom scenario.
5 minutes 30 seconds
Mark Benstead: Does it concern you that there is an unknown quantity to the season, you don’t know quite what you are going to have when you come back after the World Cup. It is almost effectively two different seasons, you could be great in the first part then it all goes to pieces?
Ange Postecoglou: I hope not mate, I’m a bit more optimistic than that. Look you try to treat it, it is obviously a little bit different here in Scotland where we normally have a natural break around that time of the year.
Like I said, the only difference now is that some of our players will actually be at the World Cup. There are a lot of unknowns there, not just for us, I guess for every club around the world in terms of what impact a World Cup has in mid season but as I said I tend to kind of focus on the stuff that’s known and what we can do to control the environment, to make sure we are ready. That’s what we will do, as I said, I’ll hopefully be more optimistic than you mate and hopefully it doesn’t all apart in the second half of the year.
At a real stretch, in a worse case scenario, if Japan reach the World Cup Final on December 18 Celtic will be without three key players for trip to Pittodrie the day before and potentially Easter Road and the January 2 trip to Ibrox.
Japan have been drawn in a group containing Germany, Spain and Costa Rica. Celtic players are also likely to be included in the Australia, USA and Croatia squads.
I wouldn’t worry about that ARSEHOLES questions to big Ange we will still be top and clear by at least 7 to 9 points by then.
Don’t be too sure.
VAR starts this weekend and if you think Celtic will benefit from it then I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
As far as the Scottish Refs are concerned they’ve just taken delivery of a nice, new, shiny piece of Hi-Tech and it will take ages and ages and ages to iron out the quirks. The ‘Honest Mistakes’ will continue, probably even increase. The Refs answer to nobody but their Association, the SFA ( Aye Right) and their ‘Ludges’.