BEING struck just above his eye by the coin which a moronic Rangers fan high in the stands above him had thrown towards the end of a 3-0 defeat at Ibrox last week was one of the worst experiences of Arne Engels’ career to date.
Receiving the unstinting support of his Celtic team mates in the wake of the sickening incident, though, has been among the best.
Engels, the Belgian internationalist who joined the Scottish champions in a club record £11m transfer back in August, spoke publicly about the William Hill Premiership match in Govan last Thursday for the first time yesterday.
The midfielder admitted he was shocked by what happened, revealed that his parents had been horrified and concerned as they watched the unfortunate events unfold at home on television and condemned the actions of the imbecile responsible.
Read more:
-
What does Jimmy Thelin need to do to end Aberdeen's slump in form?
-
Rodgers reveals Celtic talks with Taylor after Tierney chants
“It shouldn't be happening,” he said. “You're on a football pitch and that needs to be a safe place. Of course, you have always got people that are saying things to you. That's normal, that's part of football. But throwing things is not really part of football for me. I think everybody can agree with that. It was really not nice.
“Of course, it's a shock when something goes onto your head. It was on my eyebrow, so it was really close to my eye. I was lucky that it was not on my eye. Of course, in the beginning, your first reaction is feeling if everything is okay. Is there blood or something? I did that and then it was okay for me. I stood up and just moved on. I was also the first one to say, ‘Just go on, don't think about it, it's okay’.
“My parents were at home, so they saw all the replays. It was not really nice for them to see. They were also a bit worried. But in the end it was okay. They also saw me moving on and playing those 10 minutes after it. It was okay and they knew that it was okay. But they were of course worried like every parent would be.
“They know how rivalries are. They know what it does to the fans and everything. But this is not something that is supposed to be inside football or in the stands. But they know that sometimes those things can happen. So they are already a long time into football, so it's not really a real shock.”
“It's never nice to see because it sometimes comes from so high in the stands and it goes with such a speed onto your head. Then it can cause real damage to your head. That's never nice to see.
“I only spoke to the police afterwards. They were investigating everything and said they would do everything to search for who it was and to then see what the next consequences are.
“From the Rangers side? I don't really know if I heard something, But it was okay. You need to move on. We have the next game tomorrow, so we need to focus on that and not really on the things besides football.”
However, Engels stressed that he was buoyed by the way his fellow Celtic players rallied around him during his moment of need and expressed confidence that the closeness which exists in the Scottish champions’ squad will ultimately help them to lift a fourth consecutive title come May.
Read more:
-
Rodgers reveals Celtic talks with Taylor after Tierney chants
-
Celtic vs Dundee United PPV price slashed in 'goodwill gesture'
“They were lovely,” he said. “All the team mates here are so nice to me. They have each helped me in their own way. Integrating into the group after I joined was really easy for me because everybody was so kind and so open. That was easy for me.
“Also, in those kind of moments, you see that we are a team, that everybody is concerned about you and wants you to do good or wants you to be good. That's a really nice feeling that we have here in the dressing room.”
“The Rangers game was not a really nice experience from the team,” he said. “Every time when you lose, you're disappointed, you're disappointed in yourself and in the team. We knew that we could do a lot of things better and we analysed it really well the next day so we knew that we needed to do better.
“I think we reacted really well in the next game and then you see that we can create a lot of chances, that we can do a lot of things really good. It was just details that we needed to improve.
“It's about bouncing back. We are really good at it. Everybody was speaking to each other after the game. Everybody was really, really disappointed in the performance. That makes it a really, really good squad. Everybody is really determined to win it again.
“For me, it would be hopefully my first time, but everybody is so focused on that, on the goals that we put ourselves in the beginning of the season. Everybody is working every day really hard to get those goals together. It’s like a family.”
