Everyone makes mistakes and after Thursday’s awful horror show on the Celtic Park pitch, one player has put his hands up for his part in enraging some of the fans. How big an issue was it really though?
Over the last few weeks we’ve seen mixed performances by one of Celtic’s loan stars. Out of form and quiet last night, on fire away at Lille, Mohammed Elyounoussi delights and irritates the fans at times in equal measures.
There have been stories that his home club Southampton are either keen to sell and get some of their cash back, or that they are watching his form and looking forward to him returning to base after this season. Much might depend on what games they watch and what form they see.
Elyounoussi was substituted against Sparta Prague on Thursday night in the Europa League tie after almost an hour. He didn’t look happy coming off, but when his replacement Leigh Griffiths netted it seemed an inspired swap.
More from The Celtic Bhoys
- Celtic handed fresh injury doubt before Feyenoord game
- Celtic’s £40.7 million announcement should scare Rangers
- Brendan Rodgers makes superb claim about returning Celtic player
- BBC pundit makes sensational claim about Celtic hero Kyogo
- Kyogo Furuhashi sends clear message to Celtic doubters
In the current environment players tend to sit out the game in the stands rather than on the bench. Which means they are much more visible and can be picked out by cameras. Elyounoussi has made sure cameras will be at the ready for a few more games after he was controversially caught using his mobile phone while the game was being played out.
Chris Sutton slammed his behaviour after the game. Neil Lennon referred to it post match and said he will deal with it. We are unlikely to have heard the half of it yet. Elyounoussi is reported by Sportwitness talking about what happened and referring to it as unacceptable. He sees it himself as a bad mistake and says he’s already spoken with Celtic manager, Lennon about the situation:
"“First of all: This is unacceptable from me. I have talked to both the coach and the captain, and the case is dead between us.“The phone is just a little out of the pocket. I have notifications from Milan-Lille match, i.e., the other match from our group, and I wanted to check the result of that match.“Either way, it’s stupid of me to put myself in that situation. I lie flat and take the punishment I might get.”"
Despite all the frustrations of last night’s performance there seem to be far more significant concerns around the Hoops and the way they are playing than why a player was fiddling with his phone. Annoying, but hardly a criminal decision or activity. It does feel as though he’s been an easy target in the wrong place at the right time.
This needs to be put in perspective and avoid being a distraction to the real issues at the club currently.