Charlie Nicholas has been running his mouth a fair bit where Celtic, Neil Lennon and the board are concerned. I don’t begrudge any pundit an opinion, provided it is honest and fair. However, Nicholas has obviously talked a lot of anti-Celtic agenda driven nonsense recently. In particular, he slammed Celtic’s transfer window, criticising the board and putting words in Neil Lennon’s mouth by claiming that the manager would have been unhappy with the business conducted. Considering that it was the best transfer window, arguably since summer 2000, this was clearly a foolish remark and, in my opinion, not a true reflection of Nicholas’ thoughts.
Since then, Celtic had a tough week and played poorly. Nicholas criticised the team and I didn’t mind him doing so as his job is to call it as he sees it. The criticism was merited on that occasion and that’s fair enough. It’s the other nonsensical comments he makes, where he is ridiculously negative and clearly looking for a reaction at the expense of his former club, where he was well supported as a player.
One remark that Charlie made was to call Diego Laxalt “the cheap option.” Seldom could a pundit have a negative take on Celtic signing a full back from AC Milan, who was named in the 2018 World Cup team of the tournament. It doesn’t take a genius to work out why he hasn’t started at Milan, when Theo Hernandez is the man above him in the pecking order; a top class player who recently plied his trade with Real Madrid!
Laxalt has come into Celtic and made a solid start. He was okay against the Rangers, did very well against his parent club in the Europa League and was solid against Aberdeen. Then, last night, Laxalt was absolutely tremendous. He broke the Europa League record for tackles in a game (13) and made four interceptions on top of his. He teamed up superbly with Elyounoussi, defended with intensity and had a very impressive pass success rate. He offers a lot at both ends of the pitch.
Whilst the rest of the football world, particularly in Celtic circles sing Laxalt’s praises, can Charlie Nicholas, the columnist and pundit, bring himself to be honest and praise the man who he deemed “the cheap option?”
He’s certainly been awfully quiet so far. Then again, what do you expect from a man who slams the signing of a Uruguayan international, who cost AC Milan over £10m, before he’s even kicked a ball in a Celtic shirt?
