No, Arne Engels did NOT say that Celtic’s mauling at Dortmund was “too much”, but that’s what the Record’s Mark Pirie would like you to believe

For a while now, the SMSM has been questioning Arne Engel’s “wisdom” when it comes to his move to the Celtic.

Why would he leave the Bundesliga for a backwater like the Scottish Premiership?

Does his move to Celtic smack of a lack of ambition?

And on, and on, and on.

You can be pretty damned sure if Arne Engels had decided to head for Govan, in an alternate reality of course, it would be the signing coup of the century.

It would show the ambition the Ibrox club has, and it would be fantastic for the Scottish game.

If you wanted evidence that the SMSM are cheerleaders for one club, then look no further than this garbage.

A national media should be in place to promote the game of football in it’s country.

Not for the benefit of one club, and one club alone.

This morning, Mark Pirie has not only published an article once again questioning his move to Scotland, but also one that contains a complete fabrication in the headline.

I’ll get to what Arne Engels said later, but first I want to focus on Pirie’s continuation of questioning his move to Celtic.

It’s there for all to see in the opening line of his article:

Defiant Arne Engels batted away questions over his move to Celtic – insisting that the switch from FC Augsburg “is everything he hoped for” despite the Borussia Dortmund battering.

Well, what else is he going to insist?

Is he going to say:

“Yeah guys, I’ve made a big mistake moving to Celtic, I guess that’s been proven by our result against Dortmund”?

I don’t want to dwell on the Dortmund debacle, as I’m ready to move on from it, but I do want say one thing.

This was a game in which everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

When that kind night happens, and nothing goes right, you get the feeling everything is conspiring against you.

You begin to think no matter what you do, nothing will work.

That in itself can be soul destroying, and energy sapping.

Both mentally, and physically.

But make no mistake, lightning does not strike twice.

Celtic might lose more games in this Champions League campaign, but I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be in the fashion you saw on Tuesday night.

Arne Engels happens to believe the same thing.

And no-one is better placed than him to give an opinion on the subject.

He was in the thick of it on Tuesday night, and I’m pretty sure he does not want to go through an experience like that again.

He put’s Tuesday night, as most balanced people do, down to a bad day at the office.

Granted, an extremely bad day, but a bad one nonetheless.

Here’s what he had to say:

We just didn’t play well. Dortmund were really strong, but I still think 7-1 was a bit too much. We have to stick together now. We concentrate on ourselves and just look to the next game. It’s happening so quickly, there’s no time to think about it for long, we just have to get on with it.

It wasn’t our best game; I think everyone could see that. The good thing is that our next game comes quickly and it’s up to us to show again that Dortmund was just a bad day and that we are still in a good mood.

Now, I don’t know what you’ve taken from that, but it seems Mark Pirie read it completely differently to most people.

Have a read of the headline in his article:

Arne Engels admission on Celtic to German media speaks volumes as Dortmund mauling proves ‘too much’

If I was looking at that headline, I would take from it that Arne Engels said, “Man, that mauling from Dortmund, it was too much, just too much. We’re mentally and physically destroyed from it!”

And what’s more, Engels said that by admission, he admitted it.

Which is a complete fabrication.

Engels said the 7-1 score line was a bit too much.

And yes, that admission, in anyone’s language is normal.

To concede 7 goals is too much.

Pirie’s headline is designed to make you think he said the mauling at Dortmund’s hands was just too much to handle for this delicate Celtic side.

That they’re all mentally scarred after it.

Pirie finishes his disingenuous article with this:

And in a telling view he insisted he was still enjoying life at Celtic. Engels went on: “Apart from this game here: yes. It’s everything I hoped for, sometimes even more. Even though today was a bad day for us, we are usually much better.

Apparently, Arne Engels has to continually justify his move to Glasgow by insisting he’s still enjoying life at Celtic.

I wonder how often he’s going to be asked that question?

And how often he’s going to have to justify playing in a backwater like the Scottish Premiership?

In fact, I wonder how many times Nedim Bajrami is going to be asked that question this season?

Because, by current Ibrox standards, he has to be classed as a big money signing for them.

Doesn’t he?

I mean, why would he want to leave Italy after playing in Serie A for three seasons, to come and play in a backwater like the Scottish Premiership?

Madness.

Absolute madness.

Well, not really, only if you come to Celtic.

It doesn’t count at Ibrox, because in the insanity that swirls around that place, something like that is perfectly normal.

Spending money on players you can’t afford is perfectly normal.