Almost as if they knew. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
Celtic, the ‘old man’ and a possible pitch invasion hat-trick. NAUGHTY BHOYS. An occasionally contrary but invariably entertaining studio regular on Jim White’s TalkSport show before and between stints at Celtic this season, Martin O’Neill made himself available this morning to discuss his side’s dramatic weekend title heist. It’s not often a game of football completely overshadows the FA Cup final but Saturday’s denouement at Celtic Park was the rare exception. O’Neill could scarcely have been more complimentary about his players, his staff and the unprecedented levels of global interest generated in the Scottish Premiership by a completely unexpected Hearts title challenge that came up agonisingly short. For 12 minutes O’Neill traded good-natured barbs with White and Sidekick Simon Jordan while joking about “the two Japanese lads” in the dressing-room openly wondering “who is this old man?” on his first day in interim charge. It was only when the trumpeting of the giant elephant in the studio klaxon reached an ear-splitting crescendo that White asked his special guest about the pitch invasion that greeted Celtic’s third goal and whether it suggested “a lack of class” on Celtic’s part.
“I totally disagree with that,” bristled O’Neill, who had perhaps been entertaining the forlorn hope the subject might not be raised. “I don’t know about the confrontations in terms of the Hearts players, let’s find out the real picture. The fact is that when we scored the third goal, the game was essentially over. The referee has claimed he has blown the final whistle and then there’s obvious excitement. It’s a home game and we’ve just won the league and the fans have come on to the field.” Evidence that the final whistle was actually blown is as scarce as proof of claims that several Hearts players were physically assaulted before quickly being escorted from the field. It is also worth noting that O’Neill’s apparent, possibly feigned indifference to the over-exuberance of several hundred fans who took great glee in goading their vanquished visitors was not shared by the vast majority of those present at Celtic Park, who made their displeasure clear.
Denied the chance to thank the travelling Jambos, Derek McInnes and his players instead hightailed it to their team coach and made good their escape back to Edinburgh, with several arriving back at Tynecastle looking genuinely heartbroken and still dressed in full kit. The only thing that might have made them more miserable was discovering that referee Don Robertson definitively hadn’t blown for full-time and they were being ordered to get back on the bus for the 43-mile journey to play the last remaining seconds before being provoked to within an inch of their lives again.
“I think the team’s played with a real attitude to win this season, which really has been demonstrated so often and that pleases me no end,” parped vanquished McInnes on Sunday, after receiving the Scottish Fitba Writers’ Association gong for manager of the year. “We have to be that and a wee bit more again if we can go and try and lift silverware.” For Hearts, a whiteknuckle ride of a season is over, while Celtic still have a Scottish Cup final and the perfect hat-trick of high-profile pitch invasions – their own ground, Ibrox and Hampden Park – to complete.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Gone. Get rid. I’ll tell you why. It’s killing spontaneity in the ground. I’m a season ticket holder at Everton. Killing spontaneity. You can’t celebrate a goal because you think someone somewhere in an industrial unit is going to rule it out. So that’s a bad thing. But No 2, it doesn’t get decisions right. You could put up with it if it then got decisions right, but it doesn’t get the decisions right and it’s not consistent” – Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor reportedly building a potential bid to become the new prime minister, is asked on the burning issue of the day: the war in Iran, the cost-of-living crisis VAR!
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS: “I think Michael Lloyd might be on to something with his suggestion for crowd entertainment during VAR reviews (Friday’s letters). Stadium announcers could play songs that match the (alleged) infraction under consideration - maybe Johnny Cash’s ‘I Walk the Line’ for offside reviews, Timbaland’s ‘Hands in the Air’ for when the ball has been leathered against an outstretched digit from incredibly close quarters, or Justin Bieber’s ‘Hold Me’ for set-piece grappling (if it’s one of those scenarios that has to be replayed 17 times, then some or all alternative tracks with the same title by Wilson Phillips, Santana, Alabama Shakes or Tom Waits could also be played). Finally, for dubious decisions made in added time, in games that have a direct impact on the destination of a league title, there is only one possible track: Prince’s ‘Controversy’” – Paul Taverner. “Can I be one of 1,057 others to suggest that Andy Burnham would be better to sport an Everton shirt sponsored by NEC if he wanted to curry favour with the Labour Party hierarchy” – Chris Richardson (and no others). If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Paul Taverner.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: Football Weekly is heading for your ears, right here.
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FUN AND GAMES IN SOUTH AMERICA DEPT: As he attempts to convince Carlo Ancelotti of a place in Brazil’s Geopolitics World Cup squad, Neymar’s charm offensive once again took something of a hit on Monday after the 34-year-old threw a wobbly that Damon Albarn would have been proud of after being accidentally substituted during Santos’s 3-0 defeat by Coritiba. Having continuously battled with questions about his physical fitness, Neymar temporarily left the field for treatment only to find his No 10 number flash up on the fourth official’s board, with Robinho Jr – the son of the former Manchester City player who Neymar slapped in training earlier this month – waiting in the wings. After a few choice words with the officials explaining that it was teammate Gonzalo Escobar who was meant to be withdrawn, Neymar snatched the substitution slip from the officials and held it to a television camera to prove their mistake, only to receive a yellow card and his marching orders to the substitute bench. “The fourth official got the substitution wrong,” yelped a Santos statement as the club attempted to downplay the incident. “This was confirmed by the television coverage and by the note used by the officials during the substitution. An inexplicable error that was not corrected.” Football Daily can only imagine what Ancelotti’s reaction might have been, although we would suggest there might be a raised eyebrow or two.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS: The Bigger Cup final will not be available to watch for free in the UK for the first time since the competition’s modern rebrand 34 years ago. Alison Hammond’s Big Weekend it is, then. Ousmane Dembélé will undergo treatment for calf-knack over the next few days just two weeks out from PSG’s Bigger Cup final with Arsenal. Enzi Konza is feeling the love before Aston Villa’s Bigger Vase final against Freiburg, which Villa fan Prince William is expected to attend. “He called me a Rolls-Royce once, so I’ll take that,” beamed the defender. “Since I joined he has been showing unreal support, coming into the changing room, greeting everyone and showing everyone the utmost respect.” Inter are loitering around Anfield licking their lips as Curtis Jones prepares to enter the last year of his Liverpool contract. Real Madrid captain Dani Carvajal will do one at the end of the season, bringing the curtain down on a glittering 23-year association that included six Bigger Cup triumphs. Georgia Stanway will join Arsenal at the start of July on a free transfer from Bayern Munich, Big Website understands. And you may never see a weirder own goal than this one by Real Sireti’s Valentin Rebeja, who was lying on the floor with unspecified knack when he looped the ball past his own keeper in a match against Oguz in Moldova’s second tier.
STILL WANT MORE? From the removal of the tunnel cover to turning off concourse TVs, Ed Aarons explains how Mikel Arteta created a red-hot atmosphere at the Emirates. Nicky Bandini on the Rome derby and a Serie A scheduling nightmare. Nice began the season in Bigger Cup but may end it in Ligue 2. Luke Entwistle has written this on what went wrong for the Ineos-backed club. Andy Brassell on how Christian Eriksen inspired Wolfsburg in their relegation thriller. Are Scotland tickets at the GWC really more popular than England, USA and Argentina? Tom Dart has the answers. Dallas’s Sam Sarver chugging a beer on the pitch … and Phil Neville. It’s our MLS weekend wrap. Will Magee explains how Aarhus went from sleeping giants to their first Danish title in 40 years. Sam Dalling spent the day behind the scenes with Southend United during their FA Trophy triumph at Wembley on Sunday, with Andy Hall also there to take some very nice snaps. Speaking of cup final heroes, here’s David Hytner’s profile of Antoine Semenyo, and his “surreal” journey from Wiltshere to Wembley. The grim denouement of a stunning Scottish Premiership title race must prompt a shift in attitudes, writes Ewan Murray. And count ‘em and weep: here’s 10 talking points from the Premier League and FA Cup, while we also have you covered on the final round of games in the WSL.
MEMORY LANE: 15 May 1991: Bryan Robson, Manchester United’s Captain Marvel (centre), stands alongside Lee Sharpe (right) after the the club’s 1991 European Cup Winners’ Cup final, but can you guess the player on Robson’s left that played right wing for United that day? It is, of course, Mike Phelan, who would – without the hair and moustache – go on to have a successful career as assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson from 2008-13 and under Ole Gunnar Solskjær from 2019-21. As a player with United, Phelan also won the FA Cup, a League Cup and the 1992-93 Premier League before leaving the club for West Bromwich Albion in 1994.
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