MARK McGHEE claimed it was a misunderstanding when he failed to shake hands with Ronny Deila after Motherwell’s 2-1 defeat from champions-elect Celtic at Fir Park.
At the final whistle, the Well gaffer appeared to walk past the Norwegian then shake Hoops coach John Kennedy’s hand, leaving the Parkhead manager looking puzzled.
Asked afterwards about the incident, ex-Celt McGhee answered: “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
However, queried further if he had blanked Deila’s handshake,” he replied: “That’s not true…I have nothing to say about that, not a thing.”
Later, he admitted: “What actually happened was, at the beginning of the game, I felt as if when I went over to shake hands with the Celtic staff they blanked me.
“I’ve spoken to Ronny about it and it was a total, 100 per cent misunderstanding on my part, and I accept totally he didn’t see me. That’s fine and he and I have shaken hands.”
Unusually, Deila did not attend the post-match press conference, with Kennedy deputising, and he did not offer much more information.
He said: “I have no idea, I will need to find out,” when pressed on the actions of the rival manager at the end of the game.
But he was delighted with the win that moves the Hoops eight points clear of their nearest challengers with only five games still to play.
He said: “It was important that we took advantage of Aberdeen slipping up.
“The first-half performance was good, we had some good chances, but we didn’t quite capitalise and in the second-half we had to dig very deep.
“At this time of the season it is about results, that is the most important thing.
“It gives us an extra cushion, but we take nothing for granted in this game. However, with five to go and eight points clear, I would like to think we could see the job through.”
