Former Hoops defender Jozo Simunovic remains without a club since he was released by Celtic in the summer after helping Celtic reach 9IAR. As part of what turned out to be flawed logic as preparations got under way for the Ten-in-a-Row campaign, Peter Lawwell, Neil Lennon and Nick Hammond decided to allow Simunovic, along with Jonny Hayes and Craig Gordon to walk out the door.
That was three course and distance title winners right there and their experience could and should have been retained – at a modest cost – for this season. Hayes and Gordon went back to their old clubs, Aberdeen and Hearts respectively with the former goalkeeper in the news this week after telling Sportscene that he reckoned Celtic made a mistake in the summer letting these title winners leave.
Had the replacements been better then the situation would have been different but most fans would think that Gordon would have been a better option than any of the keepers we’ve had this season – yesterday was further proof that this position is still a huge problem for the club. And Jonny Hayes always gave everything and was a solid left-back for Celtic last term, has there been an improvement there this season? Probably few would say yes. And as for central defence, a £2m loan fee and paying 100% of the Premier League wages for Shane Duffy has turned out to be the worst decision of the lot – making the call to realise Jozo harder to understand.
However things could be looking up for Simunovic who could now be set to join Jeremie Frimpong in the Bundesliga. The former Celtic central defender has according to a report mentioned in Scottish Sun, entered into talks with both Stuttgart and Augsburg after spending all of this season without a club.
His last game for Celtic was almost a year ago, in the 3-1 home defeat to Copenhagen in the Europa League – a night when Jozo was at fault for two of the goals conceded. Still, that surely wasn’t the reason that his year option on his existing contract wasn’t taken up, surely?
Hopefully Jozo can get a deal sorted out with one of the two German sides and get back to playing football.
And there’s news of another one of Jozo’s former teammates who is also looking for a new club.Apparently Emilio Izaguirre has been released by his first club in Honduras, Motagua, after a bust-up with his manager, Diego Vasquez.
