Celtic boss Tony Mowbray would not speak to the media if he had the choice. Speaking on Celtic's online channel, Channel 67, Mowbray hit out at the press.

He said: "The story of Scottish football really isn't big enough for the newspapers that are out there and they try to create an agenda that can run for a few days and can cause a bit of unrest.

"It gets reaction from supporters, it gets letters pages going, it gets the back page the following day because there's reaction.

"It doesn't affect me but I know it affects our supporters.

"Why do I speak to the press? Really to talk to our fans - that's the only reason that I talk to the media.

"If it were down to me solely, I would probably end up doing all our media stuff to our supporters through mediums like yourself (Channel 67) and Celtic View (the club's official magazine).

"Maybe there's a proportion of our fans who don't have access to Channel 67 or have the opportunity to buy the View, and their only knowledge of Celtic Football Club is through the daily newspapers.

"That, in my mind, is why I give the courtesy to talk to the newspapers."

Mowbray insisted he did not have a problem with the media in general, but claimed there were a "few agendas" against the club.

He added: "I've spoken to the last two Celtic managers, who tell me, 'don't get over-concerned about it because it's never personal - every Celtic manager gets that'.

"I do get to hear these stories - the Scott Brown story this week, which did need addressing of course because it was a total untruth and had no substance to that whatsoever.

"People just can't make stories up and write them: it should be allowed to happen, which is why the club are taking action, I think."

Mowbray believes he was afforded "a lot more respect" during his two-and-a-half years in charge of Hibernian.

He said: "You're trying to compete with the Old Firm, trying to build a young team, trying to play entertaining football, and that was seen as a positive.

"Whereas most things you do over here are generally tried to be spun to make a negative story."