THE NONSENSE about Scott Bain being out for two months with a hand injury has been rubbished this afternoon by Celtic manager Neil Lennon. The Celtic manager has been speaking to the media, as indeed has striker Leigh Griffiths, ahead of tomorrow’s League Cup visit from Dunfermline.
Perhaps that has something to do with the huge backlash the club received this morning to their post about the ticket prices for the Europa League Qualifier against AIK Stockholm, Celtic v AIK – ‘Better look out the banners for the upper tiers,’ Celtic stung by massive fan Backlash – which we covered HERE. It makes for brutal reading.
Craig Gordon will be in goals tomorrow, with Scott Bain sidelined with an injury to his thumb. He will however be fine to return to training next week and Celtic are NOT looking at bringing in a goalkeeper – so the exclusives about Celtic bidding to bring Fraser Forster back to the club were all NONSENSE too.
Neither of these stories were written up and published on The Celtic Star incidentally although you can see that there is £££ in doing the nonsense story in the first place then following it up with the story saying it’s not happening after all.
Bain’s injury of course means that Neil Lennon doesn’t have to drop him and all Craig Gordon has to do now is play well enough to be regarded as our first pick keeper going forward. Bain had a terrible night on Tuesday, as indeed did his manager.
“He dislocated his thumb,” Lenny said to the media today, as reported by Daily Record.
“He’s had a scan and we don’t think he needs surgery. He is going to get a splint fitted and he should hopefully be back in training next week.
“We will assess it and get a fair idea of the extent of the damage and we will make a decision from there.”
And on the Fraser Forster ‘Exclusive’? Is he on his way back to Paradise?
“No, I had two good goalkeepers in the building. Craig is ready to play and he will start tomorrow,” The Celtic manager stated.
On the on-going recruitment situation that has so enraged the support after the £30million defeat to Cluj, Lennon gave his update.
“We are working diligently in the background to bring players in and increase the quality and competition and strength in depth of the squad.
“The board have been absolutely top class with me. People are looking for divisions and destabilising. It’s not there. We have to accept we lost the game, whether we deserved to lose it or not, we have to accept it and come back better.”
And in a change from the response to the exact same question that was asked immediately after the defeat to Cluj, the manager is now saying that going out of the Champions League will NOT affect the money available to sign new players.
“I don’t think so. We will still look to find players of value, quality and maybe re-saleable value as well.”
On player fitness – “Jozo is 50/50 for tomorrow, Mikey is a little bit fatigued but apart from that everyone is okay.”
On Dunfermline match – “There will be one or two changes coming in, there are players in form and sometimes when they’re in form they want to keep going and I understand that as well.
On the players – “These players go through a test of character every time they put on a Celtic shirt. The pressure is big, the expectation is big so tomorrow’s the most important game because it’s the next one.”
????️ #CelticFC manager Neil Lennon speaking to the media today at Lennoxtown.
????️ NL: "We have to get over the disappointment, look forward to tomorrow and build from where we are. We’ve had a magnificent start, scoring a lot of goals and have been playing brilliant football." pic.twitter.com/IJs2KAP9gH
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) August 16, 2019
On transfers – “We are working diligently in the background to bring players in and increase the quality, competition and strength in depth of the squad.”
On tactics against Cluj -“I understand that people talk about the team selection. I don’t think that had any bearing on the game. We were rampant at 2-1 and then we gave Cluj oxygen in the game.
“We have to get over the disappointment, look forward to tomorrow and build from where we are. We’ve had a magnificent start, scoring a lot of goals and have been playing brilliant football.”
If you would like to have your say on the current situation at Celtic please email your thoughts to editor@thecelticstar.co.uk and we’ll do our best to include in an upcoming article. You can also head over to the new and independent fans forum Celtic Noise, where no wagon are being circled and no attempts are being made to tell you that it’s time to move on.
Also on The Celtic Star…
Yellow means AIK’s 17 goal striker Elyounoussi is suspended for trip to Celtic…see HERE.
Celtic v AIK – ‘Better look out the banners for the upper tiers,’ Celtic stung by massive fan Backlash…see HERE.
Ajer Calf Fattening – What happens when we run out of £20million plus players to sell?…see HERE.
Four Celtic Men – More Supporters’ Feedback, but is Lawwell Listening?…see HERE.
The time for change at Celtic has come…see HERE.
The Winner Takes it All – It’s Celtic v AIK Stockholm in Europa Play-off…see HERE.
The Winner Takes it All – It’s Celtic v AIK Stockholm in Europa Play-off…see HERE.
