As filmmaker Jamie Doran flew to Afghanistan to film with the Taliban, he probably didn’t think he’d end up having football conversations. Yet, as he has revealed to Belfast Media, the insurgents have been following Celtic’s managerial search meticulously.
We’ve seen some pretty bizarre crossovers in football, but this is up there, it’s up there with (as reported by Bleacher Report) Osama Bin Laden being a die-hard Arsenal fan, visiting Highbury to watch his beloved Gunners in action.
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There’s nothing quite like following football with an AK47 in your hands.
That’s been proven one again by Jamie Doran, who, as reported by Belfast Media, was quizzed by members of the Taliban after they noticed that he was wearing a football shirt, a Celtic shirt, to be precise.
Doran revealed to Belfast Media how he and the Taliban ended up discussing members of Celtic’s first-team squad, as well as their search for a new manager, with Neil Lennon having departed the club at the backend of February.
“It was a pretty bizarre situation. They seemed just like ordinary blokes in many ways, wanting to know which team I supported. They’d obviously spotted the Celtic top underneath my tunic and, when I confirmed this to them, they couldn’t stop talking about Odsonne Edouard, Scott Brown (“he is a very strong leader”) and a couple of other players. But the biggest topic was the new manager.”
“They’d heard of Eddie Howe, but wondered why we weren’t going for someone more famous. I wasn’t about to disagree with them.”
“From what I could gather, their fascination with the club stems from the support Celtic fans have given to the Palestinian cause over the years. This is close to the heart of all Muslims and the backing from the Celtic diaspora has obviously struck a chord.”
What a brilliant tale that is to tell…