His bird is meant to be the daughter of some mafia type
ARTUR BORUC’S national coach last night admitted the keeper may be cracking under the weight of personal problems and poor form ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm showdown.
Dutchman Jan de Zeeuw, assistant to Poland boss Leo Beenhakker, spent the week with the troubled Celtic No.1 in the Algarve where Boruc helped his country beat Wales 1-0 on Wednesday.
De Zeeuw wants Boruc to return to the form that made him one of Europe’s most-wanted keepers last season.
But the shot-stopper has made a series of high-profile blunders on the pitch this term and will be hammered with a second massive fine this season by his club after punching team-mate Aiden McGeady last week. Boruc was fined 50,000 by Celtic earlier in the campaign after a boozefuelled incident with the Polish national team and rumours about the player’s personal life continue to haunt him.
The keeper cut an isolated figure at the Polish training camp in Portugal this week but Boruc played the second half of the victory over the Welsh and according to de Zeeuw is physically fit.
But the coach admitted the Pole is feeling the strain of his private life coming under such severe scrutiny and could not predict Boruc will shrug off the stress to perform well against Rangers.
De Zeeuw said: "I won’t give you an honest answer on how he was in training but he was in with the group.
"We all know he has had some tough times and anybody in that situation can find it difficult.
"He has had a hard time and is still having a hard time. But everybody deals with private problems in a different way. It is difficult for him.
"He has to live with a lot of pressure in Scotland and it is even worse when he comes to Poland. The bulls*** he gets in the papers in Poland is unbelievable.
"It is terrible - he is followed everywhere and there is no escape. Leo Beenhakker gets the same.
"When he goes to the shop in Warsaw for a loaf of bread there are paparazzi. When he goes for a haircut his picture is in the paper the next day. It is the same for Artur.
"He is one of the biggest stars in Poland and the pressure is unbelievable because the Polish media is brutal.
“Everybody has a right to privacy but Artur has none, in Poland or in Scotland. It is very difficult for him.”
De Zeeuw spoke with Boruc after the Wales game and expects him to play against Rangers on Sunday.
He added: "I watched Artur train twice a day this week then play 45 minutes against Wales.
"He had no problem in the game against Wales. He only played in the second half and had very little to do in the match so he did okay for us. I spoke to him after the game because he was leaving early in the morning to return to Glasgow. He was speaking about the game against Rangers on Sunday.
"Will he be okay for that game? It is impossible for me to answer. I don’t know - it is difficult for me to give you an answer on that.
"It’s a massive match for him, of course, but I don’t know how he will do because he has problems. If everybody is confronting you all of the time it is difficult to concentrate on your job.
“I don’t know the details of any problems Artur might have but if he has difficulties he has to deal with them in his own way.”