[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…BT Sport pundit Chris Sutton has backed Neil Lennon after the Celtic manager publicly criticised Olivier Ntcham for comments made in the French media.
What’s gone on here?
Ntcham gave an interview to L’Equipe at the weekend criticising the standard of opposition in Scotland and revealing he was disappointed not to leave Celtic for Porto last summer.
They were comments that went down like a lead balloon with his manager, with Lennon letting everyone know that Ntcham will be dealt with when he returns to the club’s Lennoxtown training base.
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As quoted by The Daily Record, the Hoops boss said:
“That will be addressed when Olivier comes back.
“I think it is fair to say that a lot of us, would it be management, players or people at the club were not satisfied with the comments.
“When I speak to Olivier it will be done privately but you can imagine, we find the comments untimely and not particularly accurate.”
Sutton, never one to let a controversy in Scottish football pass him by, then took to Twitter to back his former Celtic teammate, believing Lennon was right to call out the midfielder because he was “bang average” last season.
Ntcham’s future
The midfielder’s comments are even stranger when you consider he signed a new long-term deal with the club only last November, committing to the club until the summer of 2022.
That means Celtic are holding all the cards when it comes to a potential departure, with the club unlikely to let any interested party pick him up on the cheap simply because the player is sulking a bit.
Obviously having unhappy players is never ideal and perhaps his talk with Lennon will clear the air a bit.
If not, there will have to be some big decisions made on his immediate future.
Sutton’s “bang average” assessment may be a little strong, but Ntcham is hardly a key player, starting less than half of their 63 games last season, and the Hoops need everyone pulling in the same direction for their title challenge next season.