Former Celtic striker Carlton Cole has claimed that the club was divided under the management of Ronny Deila, which was part of the reason he failed to impress. The veteran striker arrived on a short-term deal after training at Lennoxtown with the first team; however, he made just a handful of appearances before injuries led to his release.
Speaking to Let Me Be Frank with Frank McAvennie and Simon Houston, Cole said that the club looked ‘massive’ from the outside but he was left disappointed by his time in Glasgow.
“I wasn’t looked after the way I thought I should have been. It was disjointed. I was at West Ham for nearly 10 years. So going from that to seeing that.
“From the outside at the time, Celtic looked like a massive club but when you go in and you see it, it was a little bit Mickey Mouse. It wasn’t great.
“For me, the medical team was essential to keep me going and keep me fit. But there were two – it was divided. There was the old faithful, the Scottish medical team and there was the Norwegian medical team as well. They couldn’t really agree, the two medical teams.
“So when you went in, you had to pick a side as a player. It was just really weird for me. That was just one of the things. But I’m not saying it was just that.
“But I’m just saying I was mentally prepared for these things. And it culminated into me not performing.”
The player admitted that he wasn’t ready for the pressure and not in a good place having injured his calf during the trial period with the club. Although, he had nothing but good things to say about the club.
Cole was signed to supplement Leigh Griffiths, who had a sensational season, along with Nadir Çiftçi. The Turkish striker clearly hadn’t been a success since arriving from Dundee United and the club moved to bring the former Premier League striker in.
As someone that was there for Cole’s five games and two goal contributions (that one at Inverness is still anyone’s guess), it is rewriting history to suggest he was anything other than an over the hill player that struggled to adapt. Deila’s Celtic had their own shortcomings but Cole looked to be unfit and his touch would have been heckled at a Sunday league ground.
The difficulty is that Cole was there and wanted to succeed but arrived in a time that Deila appeared to be overwhelmed by the pressures of the job. Cole did have a good song that contributed to the Celtic songbook, even if he failed to really live up to his West Ham days on the pitch.
