Jim Duffy hits back as ‘fantastic’ Rangers and Celtic title admission made
Jim Duffy claims it’s part and parcel of being a footballer going to play for your national team after a fan complained about the international break impacting the title race between Rangers and Celtic.
After the caller asked for international breaks to be scrapped on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard on Wednesday (20 March) due to potential injuries, the pundit said they can happen in training or any kind of game, whether it be for their nation or club.
He suggested that players want to go away and represent their country, while adding that it’s “fantastic” that there is currently a title race going on between the Old Firm clubs.
Host Gordan Duncan claimed the caller’s suggestion just shows how tense the battle for the Scottish Premiership is becoming as everyone is “getting worried about everything”.
“You’ve got three massive teams in England fighting for the Premier League, a multi-million-pound industry, their players will be going,” said Duffy. “If you’re a player, you want to be playing for your national side, you want to be at the highest level, you’ve got the Euros coming up.
“It’s just part and parcel of football, the fact that there’s a title race going on is fantastic. Listen, we’ve seen over the years sadly a player go away and get injured on international duty, it’s so frustrating when they come back, but it can happen in training, in any kind of game.
“When it does happen in international duty, there seems to be maybe more of a finger pointed at the countries when the players go away.”
“This just tells me that the title race is getting really tense and people are getting worried about everything,” added Duncan.
Rangers and Celtic title race hotting up
The title race between Rangers and Celtic is certainly hotting up as many people are probably quite frustrated that the international break has arrived at just the wrong time.
The Old Firm clubs are separated by just one point in the Hoops’ favour, with the Gers having a game in hand following their postponed fixture against Dundee.
While there is always a concern about players picking up injuries while they are away on international duty, they can happen at any point and the risk is probably no bigger than when they are with their clubs.
The international breaks can be quite hectic times for players, though, as there is sometimes more travel involved and often a quick turnaround before returning to play for their teams.
Philippe Clement will just be hoping all of his players return to Ibrox without any problems as they look to battle it out for the title in the final few weeks of the season.
In other Rangers news, a BBC pundit has made a title admission after what happened at Ibrox.
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