Olivier Ntcham addresses Rangers vs Celtic coin-throwing incident

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.

Celtic midfielder Boli Bolingoli has spoken out about the incident during last week’s Old Firm clash when a coin was thrown from the crowd and hit him on the head.

The Belgian internationalist was left shocked by the incident and admitted that his parents were horrified when they watched it unfold at home on television.

Bolingoli, who joined Celtic from Rapid Vienna in a club record £11m transfer back in August, spoke publicly about the William Hill Premiership match in Govan for the first time yesterday.

He condemned the actions of the imbecile responsible and insisted that it shouldn’t be happening on a football pitch, which 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.”

Bolingoli added that he hadn’t really experienced anything like that with coins before, although he has seen players get hit by fireworks or beer spilling over them, which also isn’t nice to see.

He said that it sometimes comes from so high in the stands and it goes with such a speed onto your head, that it can then cause real damage, which is never nice to see.

The Celtic star only spoke to the police afterwards and they were investigating everything. He said that they told him they would do everything to search for who it was and to then see what the next consequences are.

Bolingoli admitted that he didn’t really hear anything from the Rangers side, but it was okay and he needed to move on. He said that they have the next game tomorrow, so they 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.