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Once in a while The Clumpany sees a headline that seems so far removed from the actual substance of the piece that I have to wonder whether someone has taken leave of their senses, or whether an axe is being ground.
The below Tweet, and the linked piece on the Record website are classic examples.
Efe Ambrose: Craig Gordon has to take his share of the blame for Fenerbache nightmare
I read that Tweet and headline and thought “Oh no! Dissent in the ranks!”. But then I remembered the comments from Ambrose that I had read earlier today, where he had spoken of mistakes happening, and of how it was important to learn and move on.
I remember thinking at the time “Good on you Efe for fronting up at the press conference, and good on Celtic for letting him have his say rather than hiding him away. It seems like there is a good team spirit”.
Having reflected on these points I decided that I ought to actually read the apparently astonishing tidings from the Record…
So I did.
Oh dear.
The piece begins like this:
“CELTIC defender Efe Ambrose believes that Craig Gordon should take his share of the blame for the calamitous back pass that led to Fenerbache’s equaliser”.
And then we get to Efe’s comments:
“It is not easy, but as a player you sometimes find yourself in those situations”
“It can happen to anybody not just Efe Ambrose. It was a gift for them but the most important thing is the management, the gaffer, the players stood by me. They know it can happen. Sometimes in football, when the defender or the goalkeeper makes the mistake, everybody sees it.”
“If Craig was able to catch the ball then no one would speak about this, it is not a mistake but the communication between me and Craig was not there.”
“I have put that behind me and will work harder to make sure that kind of thing will never happen again, because you learn from your mistakes and I believe I have learned from this and I will move on.
“When you know the team is behind you it picks you up and the gaffer stood by me and I really appreciate that. It is not easy but I am getting back stronger again.”
Yes folks, as you can clearly see, Efe Ambrose was certainly saying that Craig Gordon has to accept some blame. Because – as his comments show – there is definitely a blame culture in the Celtic dressing room.
I am beginning to wonder whether the Record’s long-cultivated and fiercely protected ‘love-in’ with Celtic might finally be on the wane…
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