Hibs boss demands 'hard work' before admitting he fell asleep during Celtic scouting mission
Hibernian boss Marink Reedijk has provided some strange comments ahead of Sunday's clash with Celtic. Hibs are bottom of the table after accumulating just two wins so far, and on that basis, Celtic might be the worst team to come to town next.
The Hoops may be struggling in Europe, losing all of their first three games of the campaign, but they have been excellent in the league, winning all but one of their league games so far.
Celtic will be heavy favourites here, and that is partly because Hibs have been very poor up to this stage.
“Confidence is not something where you can press a button, and it changes,” said Reedijk. “Confidence starts with hard work, craft work, smart work.”
Shortly after stating that hard work is the key to turning things around, Reedijk said he watched Celtic's Europa League clash with Celta on Thursday night but only made it halfway through before falling asleep.
“I was too tired to keep my eyes open,” he admitted. “So, I can’t judge the second half.” That's some hard work you're doing there, Mr Reedijk. Way to set the tone.
Anyway, the Hibs boss went on to add of Celtic: "They have several flavours to put on the pitch. “On the theory board, I’ve won every match. But in practice, it’s always different.”
Much of the action in that Europa League clash came in the second half, so it's not clear what the Hibs boss will have learned unless he went back and watched the second half after his pre-match press conference, which he obviously should have done as a normal part of preparation.
Celtic are strong favourites for this game and will be fully expecting to come away from Easter Road with all three points. Despite suffering another collapse, the Bhoys were pretty solid for much of Thursday night's game, and other than the Rangers defeat during that disappointing run of results before the international break, Celtic haven't had any real trouble with league opponents.
It would be a surprise if Hibs were to be that trouble this weekend, but it's football and the Bhoys will need to put on a professional display, as ever.
