Jeremie Frimpong has said Celtic can’t win everything, weeks after leaving the club for Bayer Leverkusen. The player, who was at the club for just 51 games, has suggested that the Celtic support didn’t know how to react when they lost games of football and that their response this season was natural. It points to a wider issue, that maybe some of the players did not know how much this season mattered.
‘Celtic can’t win everything!’
Former Celtic defender Jeremie Frimpong, who now plays at Bayer Leverkusen, has described criticism aimed at Neil Lennon as ‘over the top’. pic.twitter.com/HbYbM4puQI
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) March 1, 2021
Jeremie Frimpong has told BILD about his move from Celtic to Leverkusen. “I was shocked by the interest from Bayer as I was coming from no man’s land. But of course I was very pleased about it. The Bundesliga is a big challenge & therefore I went for it for my development.”
— Derek Rae (@RaeComm) March 1, 2021
There is no issue with a player leaving for bigger leagues, Frimpong came in for a bargain fee and left for £11.5m. The player epitomised the Celtic model for transfers, development and sell-on but his comments are wide of the mark. It is disingenuous to suggest that Celtic fans did not know how to react to losing games of football as they were used to winning. The issue is that the club regressed from Rodgers to Lennon. Frimpong likely means no harm but he speaks to a wider issue, the fact that the players did not seem to see what was at stake.
Celtic were one campaign away from bettering the record achieved by Jock Stein in 1974 and equalled by Walter Smith’s Rangers in 1997. History was in the making and the players and management fell agonisingly short at every juncture this season.
This season has been an unmitigated disaster, from Europe, The League Cup and the Premiership title race all being over by the New Year. The only saving grace was the Scottish Cup win from the season previous, which was entirely merited.
