It’s safe to say Boli Bolingoli has been one of the most controversial figures to wear the Celtic jersey in recent years. His infamous dalliance with a mystery woman in Spain at the start of last season left a lot of ticked off people amongst the Celtic masses.
Highly irresponsible on his behalf, the left-back not only disobeyed Celtic, but the Scottish FA and Scottish Government. The resulting outcome led to Celtic matches being postponed, causing major consternation as we tried to play catch-up during what was a momentous year for the Club. The ostracized Bolingoli was banished on-loan to Turkey, where he suffered a considerable injury which more-or-less evaporated any chance of Istanbul Basaksehir F.K. purchasing him permanently, in what could’ve been an end to the collective misery that his behaviour bequeathed us all.
Fast-forward to a mere couple of weeks ago, and Ange Postecoglou brought him in from the wilderness to start against Livingston at the Toni Macaroni Stadium. As we all know, we succumbed to a 1-0 defeat that day, courtesy of an Andrew Shinnie goal. However, Bolingoli didn’t actually play that bad, as the whole team seemed to be in some kind of catharsis in West Lothian. This has prompted many to question whether or not the fullback is in Ange’s plans this season moving forward.
Former teammate of Boli, Tuur Dierckx, has insisted the Belgian can return to the fold at Celtic Park and make an impact. He said: “I had a similar situation in Belgium so I know what it’s like and what the consequences are, as reported by Daily Record. “The media were all over it and when a football or someone is known does something unacceptable then it has huge consequences. It does seem like they are made examples of as a warning to others. It was stupid. There were some people invited to my place and some turned up not invited. It really blew up in my face and it was a big story.”
“The situation was difficult with covid and when a football messes up it’s a big deal. I had to accept it. I ended up with a one month suspended prison sentence, which isn’t nice.”
He said: “Boli has to deal with a lot too. You are an example to people but you are still a young person who makes mistakes. I know Boli in his heart is a good guy. He wouldn’t never do anything to hurt anyone. I have only seen him mad once or twice in more than 12 years. He always likes to laugh and have fun, but he’s is serious about football and very disciplined.”
“It was a difficult time for him but I hope the new manager will allow him to make a fresh start. The important thing for me was my club were supportive. I wanted to do my talking with my feet and people could talk about me on the pitch rather than off it. I got sick of the other stuff as I’m a footballer who wants to play and Boli is the same.
On Boli’s chances of making a comeback in the Hoops, he continued: “I’ve known Boli since we were 13 years old. We both were living in Antwerp and we both moved to Brugge, which is a big step at that age. There are different mentalities in different regions and Brugge is very different. Boli was one of the first players from the Congo to play there so it was no so easy for him.”
“He struggled off the pitch in the bigging but he was tough and he managed to grow every year. By the time we got to 17 or 18 we were in the first team, we won the cup and became champions. He moved to rapid Vienna and then Celtic but I knew the situation as he came back to Antwerp to train on his own, so we went running together.”
“We talked about his situation a lot. He was playing, then he got injured and then he had some problems with the coach. He had his loan spell where he played well and said if things didn’t change then he might need to leave. But things have changed and I know he really likes the club and he wants to prove to everyone he is the player they signed last year.”
Dierckx also implied that Ange could be the man to get the best out of the maligned defender. He said: “I’ve heard the manager is very attack-minded and that will suit Boli with his speed and his technical ability. I always played on the left wing but he was a striker when we started out before moving back to left back. He’s can run all day – he’s a machine. He is still young and can have a very successful career at Celtic.”
Bolingoli certainly has an abundance of energy and offers plenty going forward. However, it remains to be seen if the player is able to salvage something of his Celtic career. If he hadn’t betrayed the trust of the fans he may have been able to grow into the role at left-back for Celtic. I fear that ship may have sailed for the player unfortunately.
Paul Gillespie
