John Kennedy has hit back at the disrespectful comments made during the international break by the Norway manager Stale Solbakken and one of his coaching staff Brede Hangeland concerning the Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer.
Ajer has developed over the last five years at Celtic from a youthful midfield hopeful into an international defender who is attracting interest from top sides in Italy, Germany and England. Yet Solbakken, as we reported last week, reckons Ajer must now leave Celtic. “Kristoffer has to change the league now, he must. He does not have enough challenges in everyday life.
“Therefore, I think he has got some habits, which you do not notice until he meets better opposition at international level or Europe.
“So, I think it would be a smart move for him. Kristoffer should go to one of the five major leagues. He will do that.”
His Assistant Brede Hangeland went even further claiming watching Ajer play in Scotland is like watching juniors v seniors playing and Kennedy was angry enough with these unfair and disrespectful comments to hit back at the Norwegians.
“I thought it was disrespectful to both the league and the club,” Kennedy said, as reported by Daily Record. “We are a massive club in our own right who compete in Europe every season.
“To come out with such a strong statement about what a player must do, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.
It’s not his position to say that. If he wanted to have a private conversation with Kris over that, fine,” the Celtic Interim manager said. “But I certainly don’t think he should be coming out publicly and telling a player what he should or shouldn’t do.
“Especially when you play at a club like Celtic. Anybody who has been at Celtic will have realised the size of it the minute they stepped through the door. The magnitude of it, the fan base and the expectation.
“We have had a huge part in Kris’s career to date and how he has developed into the player he is. There’s no doubt there will be interest in Kris because of his profile, his age and where he is at. But I found the statement and the comments disrespectful towards ourselves.”
Ajer is one of the Celtic want aways, although he has had a decent enough season. If Eddie Howe can entice him to stay on and be part of his revolution at Celtic then all well and good but even that seems unlikely amid growing interest in the player from around Europe.
Celtic need to maximise the price if Ajer is going to leave, which is probably how this will pan out.
