PANDEMONIUM CENTRAL
Ange called it a weird league but Glasgow’s not part of a rational world
In what sane, rational world would anyone feel compelled to cal l the outcome of a league when there were still 93 points up for grabs?
Ange’s problem, however, is that his adopted home in Glasgow isn’t part of a sane, rational world.
It is Pandemonium Central. The city went doolally in February 2012 when Rangers fell into administration and it opened a can of worms that still pollutes the atmosphere.
Now we’re moving towards celebrat ing a decade of demented behaviour involving two sets of fans.
The environment doesn’t adjust to suit you, Ange. You have to adjust to it.
Rangers’ manager Steven Gerrard arrived as a global icon who was known from Las Palmas to Los Angeles.
And then he was found hanging out of a dressing-room window one day, fist pumping fans in the street below while celebrating a league title win.
It thereby proved he had assimilated himself into his new surroundings.
Celtic’s initial target Eddie Howe thought about going to Celtic and taking on Gerrard for localised supremacy until he had a n involu nt a r y bowel movement and went into hiding.
Ange quickly filled the void but the Europa League defeat by Bayer Leverkusen proved he hasn’t fully grasped the demands of the job.
No- one seriously thought Celtic would beat the German side but if you’re going to practise damage limitation then you have to acknowledge you have limitations in the first place and plan accordingly. He didn’t.
The manager, though, says h i s c r i t i c s a re being “condescending,” to use his word, when they remind him of what is expected from Celtic.
That wi l l be nothing compared with what the fans will be like if Postecoglou’s team lose a fourth away game in a row and drop into the Premiership’s bottom six as a consequence of defeat at Aberdeen this afternoon.
Unrest that’ll be intensified if Rangers beat Hibs and move nine points ahead of Celtic with fewer than 10 league games played.
The supporters who are criticising Ange are conditioned by circumstances, those being a severe dislike of playing second fiddle to their biggest rivals and seeing no prospect of help in sight.
On the day he was officially unveiled as Celtic manager, the club granted access to fan med ia and the y gave Postecoglou an introduction to their thought processes.
If the manager recalls that day correctly he’ll remember being told by them that the media were not his friends because they only wanted what was best for the other Premiership side in the city.
The same people who told him who to trust are now looking dangerously close to turning on him.
The man who thought it was a good idea to let fan media be pa r t of t he ma na g e r ’ s inauguration was incoming chief executive Dominic McKay. He became the outgoing CEO just 72 days after taking the job.
In this calendar year so far Celtic have had two full-time chief executives in Peter Lawwell and McKay.
They currently have an interim holder of that position, Michael Nicholson.
Two full-time managers Neil Lennon and Postecoglou have been in place either side of an interim appointment, John Kennedy. Such is life in Pandemonium Central.
Ange says it ’ s a “weird league” that has people declaring it over and done with while it is very much still in its infancy
A defeat at Pittodrie and Ange has two chances of getting a sympathetic hearing.
Those are slim and none – and slim left town when Leverkusen’s fourth goal went in on Thursday night.
The league table only contains eight columns - P W L D F A GD PTS. There is no ninth MC column for mitigating circumstances. That’s another part of the culture trap.
Old Firm supporters take humiliation as a personal affront and, right now, the Rangers supporters are mocking their rivals.
They are asking what will happen to the SPFL’s TV contract with Sky if Celtic are in the bottom six at the split, meaning three Old Firm derbies, not four.
When supporters are living the nightmare instead of the dream there must be a scapegoat.
T h a t ’s not b e i n g condescending. That is being factual ly, and historically, accurate.
Ange has to be careful. He appears to have an answer for everything, except what to do when something goes wrong.