Former Celtic striker Davie Provan has sent a class dig the way of ex-Rangers man Mark Hateley after his ridiculous comments on last week’s Glasgow Derby.
Celtic lost the fixture 1-0 in the first meeting between the two sides this season. The Ibrox loss saw Celtic come up against a Rangers team missing two first-team players. Both Allan McGregor and James Tavernier were out as the Bhoys slumped to defeat.
This then led to Hateley hitting out with a bizarre remark post-match. He claimed that Celtic were up against the Rangers B team, and that Ange Postecoglou must be wondering how he’ll ever beat their A side.
But Provan has absolutely ridiculed the remark. Speaking in his Scottish Sun column yesterday, the hard-hitting pundit was in no mood to let Hateley off with the gloat:
“Postecoglou has done little wrong since his arrival so he deserves some slack. If his first derby could have gone either way, you would never have known it given some of the guff that followed.
“My former broadcast buddy Mark Hateley believes the result gives Postecoglou a problem, saying: “I think he’ll be scratching his head and wondering what he’ll need to challenge Rangers’ A team. The B team was out on Sunday with so many players missing.”
“Really? Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, Glen Kamara, Joe Aribo, Steven Davis, Connor Goldson, Filip Helander, Kemar Roofe and Borna Barisic are Gers‘ B team? I know how it works when former players trade their credibility for a club tie. Celts have their own posse of cheerleaders.
“But if the Gers legend really believes there’s a big gap between the sides, he’s dreaming. Postecoglou will have been sick at the result and his own part in it. But having matched Rangers on their own patch, he’ll know there’s nothing to fear from Gerrard’s side.”
Davie Provan hits out at Mark Hateley
It was sheer nonsense from the former Rangers man. To say Celtic were up against the Ibrox B team is trying to create a picture that just doesn’t exist.
I get that Ibrox-minded pundits and supporters want to create this result into something more than it was. They’re itching for it to be painted as painted as an injury and Covid-stricken Rangers still having too much for a full-choice Celtic side. That even on our best day we still can’t beat them at their most vulnerable.
Utter nonsense. It’s also worth remembering that Celtic had the likes of James McCarthy and James Forrest out too. We were hardly operating at peak condition ourselves. Forrest likely would’ve started the game too, so we both began the match with one of our main outfield players sidelined.
Sure, Rangers were missing some back-up options. Their squad was a touch lightened, but nobody is talking about the subs they managed to bring on. John Lundstrum, Fashion Sakala, and Scott Arfield were all thrown into the mix in the second half. Are we going to pretend they came from the academy?
Celtic want to be beating Rangers when they’re at peak condition. Last week’s result was a blow and it gives our rivals undoubted bragging rights for now.
But this weird desire to turn it into a narrative that simply isn’t there is becoming frustrating. Celtic have closed the gap on Rangers, and it’s only a matter of time before we start getting derby results again.
In other news, Chris Sutton excited by the prospect of seeing Jota at Celtic
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