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It became clear that Tony Watt had failed to deal with his overnight promotion from Bhoy Racer to King of Coatbridge and the loan deal was viewed by many as a concerted attempt by Neil Lennon to help develop the player in an environment devoid of the destructive baggage which has seriously hindered the football careers of many fine Scottish prospects: from Andy Ritchie to Derek Riordan and dozens inbetween. Lennon was no stranger to setbacks himself as a youngster and the foot soldier that saved the Empire may well have seen this loan opportunity as Watt’s last throw of the dice. In just nine months Tony Watt had gone from being the slayer of Barcelona to fifth-choice striker at Celtic Park and, while his team-mates looked forward to Champions League encounters with AC Milan, Barcelona and Ajax, Watt was rooted in the backwater of the Belgian league.
In the Jupiler Last Chance Saloon, Watt took just 90 seconds and two touches of the ball to score his first goal for Lierse against Kortrijk. He was immediately criticized by his new manager, former Ajax and Netherlands goalkeeper Stanley Menzo, for being lazy and unfit, and a pattern began to emerge.
Scoring goals did not seem to be a problem for Watt, but his discipline certainly appeared to be. Watt believed that tearing his shirt off, after finding the net a few days later against Lommel United, was an ample way of proving his condition to Menzo (a Dutch veteran of the 1990 World Cup Finals).
By October 2013, Scotland under-21 boss, Billy Stark, had axed the Anglo-Scot from the European Championship double-header against Slovakia and Georgia claiming, “Tony has to work on his fitness”. Dundee United’s Andy Robertson and Celtic’s Callum McGregor, then on loan to Notts County, were called up as debutants as Tony Watt’s career began to stall in dramatic fashion. One year earlier, Stark had described the striker as “unstoppable”.
November spawned a monster in Belgium, as a month later Watt was sent home from training on two occasions and sent off after 30 seconds against Charleroi. Menzo threatened to end the loan deal early and Neil Lennon proffered that “Tony can be a difficult boy sometimes”.
A redemption of sorts occurred on Boxing Day as Watt came off the bench to score two against Mechelen, to which Menzo explained, “today I am glad we have him but tomorrow I might want to murder him”.
By February, Lierse wanted to make the move permanent but a month later and Menzo was reported to have slapped Watt in the face and demoted him to the reserves after the young striker publicly criticised his gaffer. Tony Watt never played another first-team match for the Belgian side and returned home for pre-season having notched 9 goals in just 10 starts.
Despite maintaining a decent return of goals, Tony Watt’s career had been in freefall since that unforgettable European night against Barcelona. Neil Lennon had commented after that vintage result that “it will take some doing to top what he’s done tonight” but the teenager had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work on the obvious talent he had and it would appear that he failed to do so.
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