Bitton still bitter over his United dismissal
NIR BITTON’S path of redemption since his red card that tipped the balance of a Champions League tie against FC Midtjylland this summer, the first competitive game of Ange Postecoglou’s reign, has been reflected in the 33 games he has played since for Celtic.
One of the seasoned performers within the Parkhead side, Bitton has been used at key stages of the campaign for the Greek-Australian.
There was a red card too for the Israeli internationalist the last time Celtic played Dundee United, whom they meet on Scottish Cup duty tomorrow evening. If the midfielder is still irked about that one he knows that for any player at the club it is about a winning mentality from the moment the door to the club first opens.
“First of all I don’t think it was a red card, you know we have seen some crazy decisions in this league,” he said. “It is a game of football and we have seen a lot of times when teams have won games with 10 players, even nine players.
“If I had stayed on the pitch I don’t know if we would have won the game so maybe my red card was better for the team.”
Having been part of the Invincibles side and part of the quadruple Treble-winning era, Bitton has an appreciation of the mentality required to deliver success over a sustained period.
“You don’t really think about winning the Treble on a daily basis,” he said. “You just come to training every single day preparing for the next match and taking it step by step. We don’t think too far, there are still two months to play in this season and we will try to do our best in every game.
“When you play for Celtic you want to win every trophy possible.”