Ange Postecoglou was always going to be asked about the club versus country row today as Celtic denied Scotland, Sweden and maybe some other national team managers access to our players who have prior commitments in Australia next week.
Celtic have no problem at all following the FIFA guidelines and also supporting and encouraging any Celtic players selected for the World Cup in Qatar. Other than that though, and as per FIFA guidance, Celtic are keeping all other players to play in the Sydney Super Cup. Simple really.
Steve Clarke though does like a good moan and the Scotland manager was at it today.
BBC Scotland spoke to the Celtic manager about today’s row ahead of the 2-1 victory over Motherwell that keeps Celtic seven points clear at the top of the league looking down on theRangers.
“Steve’s got every right to be disappointed, he’s the national team manager. I’ve been there and I’ve been disappointed,” the former Socceroos manager said. “As a club manager sometimes we’re disappointed when players go away with national teams and get injured or don’t play. We all get over our disappointment pretty quickly.
“I’ve no issue with Steve. I wish him all the best but, for us, this has been in our planning for quite a while. We’ve got guys away going to the World Cup as well so it’s not just Scotland that we’ve kept the guys from.
“We think this tour is important for us, important for our supporters, it’s important for our club and that’s why we’ve taken the decision. Asked if he felt the need to explain his call to Scotland manager Steve Clarke, Ange replied: “I haven’t had the need to any other time, no different now. I’ve caught up with Steve a few times, he’s done a fantastic job as national team manager and we’re always supportive.
“We’re one of the clubs that have provided quite a few players for the national team and we always have been. But, as he said today, this is not our issue this is FIFA’s issue. They’re the ones who didn’t designate an international window which gives us the right to keep our players.”
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