Mark Fotheringham has been in the headlines more than usual this week.
That’s because, slowly but surely, it became known that it was he who Derek McInnes was infuriated by after Celtic’s opening goal against Hearts last week.
McInnes said an “inexperienced” Celtic coach “got a wee bit carried away” after Benjamin Nygren put the Hoops ahead with a sublime free-kick in an eventual 2-2 draw.
The Hearts boss didn’t half react, though, storming into the Celtic technical area to give said coach a mouthful, in an incident shown live in the broadcast of the match.
After a week of chatter about the square-up, it now seems that the pair have reconciled.
Derek McInnes explains petty behaviour at Benjamin Nygren’s Celtic goal.
For an experienced manager, he's easily rattled.
Derek McInnes on that Mark Fotheringham incident at Hearts vs Celtic
Fotheringham is one of three ex-Celtic youngsters who have all returned as part of Martin O’Neill’s coaching staff, having been handed their senior debuts by the Irishman.
McInnes calls him ‘inexperienced’, but he has worked in the Bundesliga under Felix Magathe – where he once took charge of Hertha Berlin in his absence – as well as managing Huddersfield in the Championship.
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Fotheringham is a highly-rated coach, and also a diehard Celtic fan who shows his passion in the dugout.
Addressing the incident on Friday, McInnes said: “Just to clarify, I was annoyed.
“I’ve been up against loads of different dugouts over the years, and loads of Celtic teams and I was really annoyed with the reaction.
“It surprised me, and I thought it was out of order so that was why I was annoyed about it. But in fairness to Mark, he’s not a boy I know too well but I know people that know him. He’s a great lad, seemingly.
“But he phoned me Monday afternoon to apologise. He said there was no offence meant, and if there was, he said he was sorry for that. I think that says a lot about him, so we move on.”
According to Ryan Stevenson, who was in the press box above the dugout, Fotheringham gave McInnes a f— you sign after the goal.
That remains a rumour at this point… rest assured that the story will be told on an Open Goal episode one day…
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Celtic’s 2-2 draw with Hearts at Tynecastle
The game itself was a nerve-wracking one. Celtic’s performance was defined by two real moments of quality in an unhandsome 90 minutes.
Nygren’s tremendous free kick opened the scoring early on, but Hearts were on top by half-time. Just minutes after the break, they scored from a corner, just as they did at Celtic Park.
An outstanding counter-attack saw Tomas Cvancara set up Yang Hyun-Jun, in what felt like a sucker-punch for Hearts.
But after the sending off, some heroic goalkeeping and defending wasn’t enough to prevent Hearts equalising again and securing a point.
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