rant in the steam

[Mahmoud Ahmed]

Hello everyone

Can anyone tell me the meaning of the following expression ( rant in the steam) in the following contexts, please ?

After his injury-hit team struggled to a 1-1 draw against the League Two side, Mourinho erupted. In a small room off the tunnel at Wycombe’s ground, as a tea urn belched steam into the freezing January air, he bemoaned, in his characteristically sulky way, a recruitment policy that had left him overburdened with attacking players but bereft of defensive cover.
Mourinho lingered a further eight months after the rant in the steam, but the atmosphere became increasingly rancorous and, by the end of September 2007, he was gone.

<——-Additional question removed by moderator, (Florenti52) and will require its own thread——->
Here is the full article:
The devil and José Mourinho on page 13

Thanks in advance

 

[sdgraham]

The previous paragraph says he was ranting in a steam-filled room.

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2023
rant /rænt/ v.

1. to speak or talk in a wild or violent way;
   rave:

 

[suzi br]

The previous paragraph says he was ranting in a steam-filled room.

Yes. It is a reference back to that.

But it's a strange point. The steam has no real meaning in the context.

 

[Mahmoud Ahmed]

But it's a strange point. The steam has no real meaning in the context.

Yes, I agree with you. The steam was mentioned in a simile sentence: ".... as a tea urn belched steam into the freezing January air ..." .
The author didn't write about a real steam-filled room in the article.

 

[sound shift]

The author didn't write about a real steam-filled room in the article.

I disagree. The rant was real and it took place in a room filled with real steam. Mention of tea urns (not very sophisticated devices) and steam in freezing air is no doubt intended to add to the impression of grimness that the reader gets from the wider situation, as explained here: rich Chelsea's 1-1 draw against a team from three levels below them.

 

[Myridon]

The steam was mentioned in a simile sentence: ".... as a tea urn belched steam into the freezing January air ..." .

In that sentence, "as" means "while" so it's not a simile making a comparison. It's an actual description of something that was happening at the same time.

 

[kentix]

Yes, it's a very specific visual picture. I suspect the writer was there (or possibly saw video) and that scene stuck in his mind. Steam and smoke add drama to a scene and then add in a guy ranting and it's a very dramatic visual memory that the writer recalled to add atmosphere to his article.

 

[Mahmoud Ahmed]

Thank you all for your rapid & informative comments that I realy appreciate much 😊.