OLIVIER NTCHAM got the Man of the Match from Sandman for his performance in Tallinn on Tuesday night, if you haven’t read Sandman’s latest Definitive Ratings from the 2-0 win over Nomme Kalju then you can catch up HERE.
Ntcham certainly seemed to be back in the fold at Celtic after his ill-judged attempts to use the French media to try to force a summer transfer. The French Under 21 star has three years remaining on his current Celtic contract, signed only last autumn, and manager Neil Lennon was less than impressed at the comments that were reported in the papers and angered many Celtic supporters.
“Olivier should be talking to us before coming out with comments like that. It doesn’t look good for him. For us, we sort of had half an idea he may be looking to move on, but that should be kept private and we will discuss it when he comes back,” Lenny said at the time, as Ntcham was talking up his potential move to Marseille – see HERE.
The Celtic Star to report on Ntcham’s comments and was as annoyed and angry as the most of the support turned out to be when we read what he’d been saying – Au revoir – Pusillanimous Ntcham Wants Away, see HERE.
Ntcham came back to Lennoxtown after a short break – he had been away with France at the Under 21 tournament in Italy over the summer – to face the music and to discover that Neil Lennon is a completely different kind of personality to his predecessor in the Celtic job. It’s fair to say that Ntcham would have been well aware of what Lenny thought about his remarks on the morning he returned to training.
“I had a chat with him when he came back, we had a chat during the week and we had a good chat on Tuesday,” Lenny said to the media, after returning from the 2-0 win in Tallinn, as reported by Daily Record.
“It was just about him in general and trying to get to know him a wee bit better. Whether that’s had any effect on his performance in Tallinn I don’t know, but I thought he was brilliant.
“Whether he plays the 10 or midfield you consider he has only really been back a week or two and it was a really good all-round performance.
“Again, you have to gauge the level you are playing against and be careful. But there was a lot of good things in his performance and it was pleasing.”
Will Ntcham get his move or will he have to hang around Celtic for now? We’ll find out this month one way or the other, but if he stays focused and plays like he did on Tuesday he can make a real contribution to our season – and playing well is how you will get your move Oliver. Another half hearted season like last year and you’ll impress no-one, especially Neil Lennon.
And he doesn’t take prisoners.
Also on The Celtic Star…
‘I just want to play as many games as I can,’ Gordon’s Glad to be Back…see HERE.
Matt Corr’s latest…July 1988 – Dennis Bergkamp and Charlie Christie cross paths as Ian Andrews fumbled a last-minute free-kick …see HERE.
