Almost as if they knew. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
Celtic, the ‘old man’ and a possible pitch invasion hat-trick. Martin O’Neill, an occasionally contrary but invariably entertaining studio regular on Jim White’s TalkSport show, 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 Football 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 white-knuckle 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, on VAR.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS: “I think Michael Lloyd might be on to something with his suggestion for crowd entertainment during VAR reviews. Stadium announcers could play songs that match the infraction under consideration – maybe Johnny Cash’s ‘I Walk the Line’ for offside reviews, Timbaland’s ‘Hands in the Air’ for handball, or Justin Bieber’s ‘Hold Me’ for set-piece grappling. For dubious decisions in added time that impact a title race, only one 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.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: Football Weekly is heading for your ears, right here.
RECOMMENDED WATCHING: Football Weekly is heading for your eyes, right here.
FUN AND GAMES IN SOUTH AMERICA: As he attempts to convince Carlo Ancelotti of a place in Brazil’s squad, Neymar’s charm offensive took a hit on Monday after the 34-year-old threw a wobbly after being accidentally substituted during Santos’s 3-0 defeat by Coritiba. Having battled questions about his fitness, Neymar left the field for treatment only to find his number 10 flash up on the fourth official’s board, with Robinho Jr waiting. After a few choice words explaining that teammate Gonzalo Escobar was meant to be withdrawn, Neymar snatched the substitution slip and held it to a television camera to prove the mistake, only to receive a yellow card and his marching orders. “The fourth official got the substitution wrong,” yelped a Santos statement. “This was confirmed by the television coverage and by the note used by the officials. An inexplicable error that was not corrected.”
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS: The Bigger Cup final will not be available to watch for free in the UK for the first time in 34 years. Ousmane Dembélé will undergo treatment for a calf injury 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 Prince William is expected to attend. “He called me a Rolls-Royce once, so I’ll take that,” beamed the defender. Inter are circling Anfield as Curtis Jones prepares to enter the last year of his Liverpool contract. Real Madrid captain Dani Carvajal will leave at the end of the season, ending a 23-year association with six Bigger Cup triumphs. Georgia Stanway will join Arsenal on a free transfer from Bayern Munich in July. And you may never see a weirder own goal than Valentin Rebeja’s for Real Sireti, who looped the ball past his own keeper while lying on the floor.
STILL WANT MORE? Ed Aarons explains how Mikel Arteta created a red-hot atmosphere at the Emirates. Nicky Bandini on the Rome derby and Serie A scheduling. Nice may end the season in Ligue 2; Luke Entwistle on what went wrong. Andy Brassell on Christian Eriksen inspiring Wolfsburg. Are Scotland tickets more popular than England, USA and Argentina? Tom Dart has answers. Dallas’s Sam Sarver chugging a beer on the pitch… and Phil Neville. It’s our MLS weekend wrap. Will Magee on Aarhus’s first Danish title in 40 years. Sam Dalling behind the scenes with Southend United at Wembley. David Hytner profiles Antoine Semenyo. Ewan Murray on the Scottish Premiership title race. And 10 talking points from the Premier League and FA Cup.
MEMORY LANE: 15 May 1991: Bryan Robson, Manchester United’s captain, stands alongside Lee Sharpe after the 1991 European Cup Winners’ Cup final. The player on Robson’s left is Mike Phelan, who later became assistant manager to Sir Alex Ferguson.
JUMP!
