Rangers ‘upset’ by Celtic boss Postecoglou’s apology claim amid Old Firm controversy
Rangers are “upset” and “perplexed” by Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou’s claim that the club owes Danny Friel an apology, the Scottish Sun reports.
The Hoops physio required stitches to a head wound after an incident at Ibrox where he was allegedly hit by a bottle thrown from the crowd, and a man has been arrested.
Gers reportedly apologised to the Glasgow rivals for the incident, but Postecoglou claimed on Friday that they still owed one directly to Friel. The club however don’t understand why as this has apparently already been done.
The Scottish Sun report says: “SunSport understands Ibrox chiefs were perplexed by the Parkhead boss’ comments on Friday.
“Those comments have upset their rivals, as we can reveal the Celtic staff member was contacted directly by Rangers chief executive Stewart Robertson on Monday who apologised on behalf of the club.
“SunSport also understands that Celtic were offered the use of the Ibrox medical room at half-time whilst Gers medical staff offered to attend to the Hoops’ physio.
“Gers bosses believe they have also done all they can.”
Propaganda?
Whether this is a deliberate attempt to mislead or an honest oversight, it is no surprise that the Light Blues are upset.
It was reasonable to assume that the Hoops manager was accurate in what he said ahead of his side’s 7-0 win at St Johnstone.
And the claim that the physio was owed an apology implied that the Ibrox side had not done enough.
But if they have already specifically done this, then a false narrative being put out to the media just makes the club look bad unnecessarily.
Clearly one side is mistaken and it would be good if the matter was clarified sooner rather than later.
Otherwise it is the sort of issue which is likely to turn into an unsavoury squabble between the two rivals.
The incident itself was bad and it would seem that both parties in the Old Firm are in agreement on that.
So for a he-said-she-said to develop over the mechanics of the apologies would be petty and unhelpful.
In other Rangers news, the club have been told to “get over” their recent misfortune and stop “feeling sorry for themselves” by Chris Sutton.