Windass happy to take the plaudits from an unusual source

IT’S not something which happens often. So when the Celtic manager makes a bee-line towards you after his team have walloped your own, which just so happens to be Rangers, to congratulate your performance, the player in question has probably done well. This is what happened to Josh Windass who made a good impression on his league debut on a day when his side shipped five goals at Parkhead, losing a lot more than just a game in the process.

Brendan Rodgers went straight to Windass after the final whistle and whispered something in the young Englishman’s ear. It was a touch of class much appreciated by his opponent who then found it difficult to shake off the Celtic boss.

“He just said to me that he thought I’d played really well and wished me all the best,” revealed Windass. “I wasn’t really in the mood to speak because we’d just lost 5-1, but it was nice of him.

“It was weird because I saw him in a restaurant later on in the West End. I was with my girlfriend and he was with his family. I didn’t speak to him. There was an awkward wave and that was it.”

The fact Windass earned praise on such an awful day for Rangers says much for his performance. He was just about the only one wearing blue that got pass marks.

“I actually enjoyed the first Old Firm game – apart from the result,” said Windass. “The atmosphere was really good and the day as a whole was an experience. I felt we played well in the first 15 minutes of each half. But we made individual mistakes and that cost us. As a team, we can play a lot better but the goals came down to mistakes. If we can cut them out, I’m sure we will have no problems.”

In the hours after the match, Dean Windass, former Aberdeen and Hull City player and the father of Josh, commented that this Rangers team should be built around his boy. This did not go down well.

“My dad’s an idiot!” said Windass junior. “He rang me up a day later and said sorry. I don’t take anything he says seriously. We don’t really talk about football. He will call me and tell me if I’ve played well but not in depth.”

Moving on, Windassis enjoying himself at Rangers which is a touch different to his life with Accrington Stanley.

He said: “It’s class. Accrington was a lot different. I went to their game on the international break and the difference between there and Ibrox is ridiculous. You don’t realise the massive difference at the time but I am honoured to be playing for a club of this size. I’m loving every minute of it.

“We didn’t have a training ground at Accrington. We changed at the stadium and then drove to the local Astroturf pitch. If there was someone else on the pitch, we’d have to wait or train at a different time or day.” It is for this reason you couldn’t put Windass in the same category as the spoiled kids English football churns out at a worrying rate. He said: “The main problem down there is you have kids earning a ridiculous wage when they have never played a football league game in their lives. They just think everything comes so easily and when they are let go by these big clubs and go down to League One and Two, they find it really hard.

“This is the problem with a lot of young English players.”