Gordon Strachan has spent the past two weeks talking. He shows no signs of stopping.
The recipients of his irrepressible patter have included, in reverse order, George Burley, Jose Mourinho, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Artur Boruc and the squad that lost to Rangers in Celtic's last competitive match before the international break.
He was uncommonly terse about his conversation with Burley, who has endured, but survived, a torrid week in the spotlight after a defeat against Macedonia and a victory against Iceland. "I have spoken to George this week," he said. And would he care to expand? "Naw."
However, it is reasonable to assume that both coaches discussed media criticism and how to handle it. Strachan has been the target of broadsides delivered on air and in newspapers. He has used it to breed a sense of defiance in his side.
In a eulogy about Gary Caldwell, he revealed the Scotland and Celtic centre-back had been dryly humorous about the level of criticism aimed at Burley and his team. Strachan said that Caldwell had told his international team-mates that the media frenzy was "a doddle" and that "if you are playing for Celtic, this is an absolute cakewalk".
Strachan, though, was delighted to hear that Caldwell was finally attracting praise. "For a long, long time, he has not put a foot wrong," he said. "He has been truly magnificent for us. He's a special bloke. He wants to train hard, he wants to play hard. He wants to get better. He has a great demeanour."
The Celtic manager has spent time in illustrious company in Geneva as part of a UEFA coaching conference attended by Scolari, Mourinho, Dick Advocaat and Sir Alex Ferguson among others. Strachan enjoyed the experience, but added: "There is nothing cosmic out there. We hear about tactics but it is about players and coaches making the right decisions at the right times."
This brought the manager abruptly to Artur Boruc and the team in the aftermath of the 4-2 defeat to Rangers. Boruc was culpable for two of the goals and now also faces an SFA hearing over a gesture made to Rangers fans. "He's looking great in training. Maybe it was good for him to have a break," said Strachan of the goalkeeper who missed international duty with Poland because of bad behaviour on a trip to Ukraine.
Asked if he had spoken to Boruc about his form, Strachan replied: "I speak to him quite a lot." He would not disclose the nature of these conversations but was clear about one aspect of the Boruc situation. Was the date with the SFA weighing heavily on the goalkeeper? "It doesn't look that way," said the Celtic manager.
Strachan was more expansive about the causes of the defeat to Rangers and how Celtic can come back from it. The players were all called in the next day to watch footage of the match. "There were some things you can do nothing about. There were individual mistakes and the players must be told: remember that one, put it in the locker and don't do it again'. We cleared that out of our mind. They are angry about defeat. They are not angry about the way they played. They tried to make chances, they tried to pass the ball. Individual mistakes killed us. They should not be too angry overall about how they played."
A chance for redemption comes today against Motherwell in the 12.30pm kick-off at Fir Park. His international players have returned from foreign fields unscathed. "It's been good for most of them because they have come back reasonably successful. If they get two bad results, you have to try to pick them up but they are all feeling good about themselves."
Also feeling much better is Scott McDonald, who has recovered from a muscle strain to be in consideration for the game against his former side. Celtic beat Motherwell twice at Fir Patk last year on their way to the league title.
"They were big wins against the team who were third in the league," said Strachan. "We had to go there twice to play a team who thought they could beat us. We dealt with that admirably."
Strachan, though, has not been engaging in conversation with one faction. Told he had been linked with the Newcastle United post after the departure of Kevin Keegan, he said: "Lovely. I wondered when that was going to happen."
However, he dismissed the speculation. "I am doing my stuff here. I am at a great club here," said Strachan.
The talking was then over after a fortnight of conversation. The action starts again today.
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