PLAYERS ARE LIVING IN OWN LITTLE WORLD, SAYS RITCHIE

These guys have money and think they can do whatever the hell they like

AS A Celtic scout, Andy Ritchie watched mavericks like Paolo di Canio prototype the concept of a football bubble. When the Three Amigos of Di Canio, Pierre van Hooijdonk and Jorge Cadete were in their Parkhead pomp, the rules never seemed to apply to them. Entitlement seeped from every pore.

The trio spent their time in Glasgow in a state of permanent grievance and conflict with major shareholder Fergus McCann. And were McCann still in the Parkhead hotseat now, Ritchie has no doubt over how Boli Bolingoli would be treated. ‘Wee Fergus would want him sacked on the spot,’ he tells Sportsmail. ‘But, all being equal, I suspect Celtic won’t take that position now.

‘If Bolingoli has a bit to go on his contract, I think Peter Lawwell might be reticent to say: “Right, Boli, off you pop and here is a year’s money”.

‘I would imagine they will want a transfer fee, though I don’t know that they were having much success with that even before this broke.

‘So I can’t see Peter paying up his contract to get rid of him to make it all go away.

‘And, let’s be honest, people would be pretty annoyed if the player made one of Fergus’ thin dimes out of this.

‘Bolingoli will need to take everything that comes his way.

‘Celtic will need to bite the bullet and either take a knockdown fee or punt him out on loan for a year until it all calms down. Time is a great healer.

‘I certainly don’t see him hanging around the dressing room if the anger of Scott Brown and the other players is as strong as it seems to be.’

During his time as a Morton legend, Ritchie is the first to concede that he spent little time fretting over regulations. The rules were there to be broken.

And, when he agreed to help out the late Tommy Burns and join Davie Hay on Celtic’s scouting staff, he realised he wasn’t alone.

Manchild Di Canio threw tantrums, Van Hooijdonk compared his conditions to that of a homeless person and Cadete spent his time brooding silently over his pay.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon used her daily briefing to label players as role models. That they don’t always act that way is hardly headline news.

‘There is a streak through football people where they think they are different to everybody else,’ adds Ritchie.

‘They have always had a sense of entitlement. The rest of the world has always revolved around a football player. It’s as if real life doesn’t really apply.

‘Listen, I was a player and I had that going on as well.

‘Even before the pandemic, players lived in a bubble.

‘Boli has obviously looked at the rules and thought: “This doesn’t apply to me”.

‘He’s clearly thinking: “All of the things the club are asking me to do and all the things my employers want? I’m just not going to bother doing it”.

‘I don’t know why he was over in Spain but, under the current circumstances, he clearly shouldn’t have been.

‘It’s very selfish of him to have adopted that attitude the way things are now.’

While Bolingoli has tested negative for coronavirus twice since his day trip to Malaga, Ritchie was less fortunate.

Back in March, when the virus was tightening its grip on the UK, he was forced into quarantine for two weeks after contracting severe symptoms.

At 64, he falls into the category of a vulnerable citizen. And Scottish football is now more fragile than ever after the First Minister’s yellow card to selfish players ignoring the rules.

‘I was in Donegal the other week for the first time in three-and-a-half years,’ adds Ritchie. ‘The minute I made the decision to go, I started to feel a wee bit guilty.

‘Because I was going to be travelling, I thought: “Maybe this isn’t the right thing to be doing”. I’m not even a football player.

‘If you are a football player, you absolutely should be thinking that.

‘But these guys have money and they have profile and they think they can do whatever the hell they like. And this doesn’t surprise me in any way at all.

‘And, I hate to say this, but I don’t think he’ll be the last one caught. Far from it.

‘I don’t know how bright Bolingoli is or whether he just doesn’t care or whether he has just been really stupid.

‘Most times when you do something wrong you just hope you won’t get caught.

‘But you have to ask how the hell he thought he was ever going to get through airport security with the guy looking at his passport and seeing the picture of Boli Bolingoli staring back at him?

‘Does a high-profile Celtic player really think that isn’t going to be noticed or remembered? I don’t understand what he was thinking.

‘He climbs the steps of a flight with his £2,000 baggage and his £650 designer top and he doesn’t expect anybody to pay any attention to him? Come on, for goodness sake.

‘He is breaking the rules people are expected to adhere to — and folk are sure as hell going to notice when a highprofile figure doesn’t adhere to them.

‘He’ll have to take all that’s coming to him now. The next flight he boards at Glasgow Airport will be a one-way ticket.’