Gordon Strachan allowed his irritation at Celtic's coverage on Setanta TV to boil over at this afternoon's press conference previewing tomorrow evening's CIS cup tie against Livingston. The coverage of the Nakamura penalty incident and the glossing over of the subsequent assault on the Japanese star so infuriated the Celtic boss that he asked that a Setanta TV cameraman leave the room.
He said that Kilmarnock defender Frazer Wright's slap on Shunsuke Nakamura would have drawn far more attention if the roles had been reversed and a Celtic player was the culprit. Celtic were cruising with goals from Shaun Maloney and Georgios Samaras when the incident occured. Killie midfielder Craig Bryson appeared to tug back on Nakamura's shirt inside the box and the midfielder was pulled down to the ground. An angry Wright then slapped Nakamura viciously across the side of his head and the Celtic midfielder did very well not to react in a similarly violent fashion.
He said that Kilmarnock defender Frazer Wright's slap on Shunsuke Nakamura would have drawn far more attention if the roles had been reversed and a Celtic player was the culprit. Celtic were cruising with goals from Shaun Maloney and Georgios Samaras when the incident occured. Killie midfielder Craig Bryson appeared to tug back on Nakamura's shirt inside the box and the midfielder was pulled down to the ground. An angry Wright then slapped Nakamura viciously across the side of his head and the Celtic midfielder did very well not to react in a similarly violent fashion.
Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies and his goalkeeper Alan Combe later questioned the validity of the penalty award but Strachan dismissed any complaints about the decision. He did, though, have plenty to say about the Nakamura incident and claimed that if Wright had played for either of Glasgow's top two clubs then the assault on Nakamura would have been front page news.
He said: "I think if you look in the rules, if you pull someone by the jersey it's a penalty. You didn't see it properly on television because the camera was at the wrong side but the referee saw it right away. What surprisingly wasn't shown too often was Nakamura getting a slap in the head by one of their players.
"Now trust me, if that had been a Celtic or Rangers player, it might even have made the front page of some of the tabloids. Imagine if it had been Neil Lennon in his heyday? But it was kind of swept under the carpet. I must again praise my players because to be provoked like that and turn away from it is fantastic. In any other business, if you get a smack on the head you say something about it. But Nakamura was pushed, shoved and slapped on the head and he just walked away from it and continued to show that no matter what you do to him, he was still the best player on the park yesterday."
When asked if Nakamura's agent was in town to discuss a possible return to Japan in January Strachan said "Until somebody speaks to me about it, you guys just deal with the rumours and continue to talk about it and I will deal with reality."
When asked if Nakamura's agent was in town to discuss a possible return to Japan in January Strachan said "Until somebody speaks to me about it, you guys just deal with the rumours and continue to talk about it and I will deal with reality."
The Celtic boss was also unhappy at the media's take on his recent team changes. "It's funny because when you see other teams changing their formations it's 'brave decisions' and 'team rotation'," he said "When I do it, I axe people. Is there a difference between me and the other managers?
"Tevez, Ronaldo, Scholes and Gerrard get left out but only here is there some sort of confrontation, an axe and all the rest of it. "Hinkel. Confrontation, axed? No. Scott McDonald, confrontation, axed? No."
"Management is all about decisions and I've got a good squad here. Mark Wilson is back in after being left out. Paul Hartley, an international player, is not getting a game just now. I speak to him and explain it but it just depends how you want to slant it, I'm afraid. But at this moment I've never seen a happier squad."
Celtic welcome First Division leaders Livingston to Parkhead for their CIS Cup third-round tie tomorrow night and Strachan will again rotate his squad but insists it will be through no disrespect to his opponents.
"I watched them win at Dundee on Saturday." he said "They have good young players and I can see why they are top of the league. It's understandable that we will make changes but it's not because we are playing Livingston. We played on Sunday and are playing on Tuesday."