One of Scottish football’s clickbait repositories has made another ridiculous, unsubstantiated claim. This time it’s about Odsonne Edouard and how Celtic has “dropped his January asking price”.
There are three questions which come to mind here.
First, why would we?
Second, how do they know?
Third, Odsonne Edouard has a January asking price?
The story doesn’t stand up to the remotest scrutiny because – and I cannot stress this enough times – Celtic will not sell Edouard in this window no matter what price is offered for him.
There is no magic number that someone can bid which triggers his sale.
The site in question writes garbage.
I cannot put it more bluntly than that.
It has no inside knowledge of what’s happening inside Parkhead.
It employs the services of a handful of ex-players, none of whom has the inside track at any club far less ours.
Lennon has already said the club will not sell key players in this window. That’s that. I regard it as gospel, as Holy Writ, as something that can’t be changed.
Our club is a swirl of chaos at the moment. The sale of a top player would be massively damaging, a move which would result in the full-scale uprising of the fans which the board wants to prevent.
The irony here is the neat little box the board has put itself in.
In keeping Lennon, they are maintaining their faith that the title can be still be won.
Nonsense, of course, as I’m sure they are well aware. But the sale of Edouard would be an acknowledgement that it’s over and that it’s not worth keeping him in place for six more months when he’ll go in the summer anyway.
But to admit that also means admitting that the manager can go too, and a few others with him.
Which for reasons passing understanding is a move they will not make.
The media has published its latest nonsense without a single thought as to the reality of the situation at Celtic Park, and such dreck as that Leicester are about to “test us” with a £30 million offer is about what we expect; a story that has started on a blog has leaped into the mainstream without, it seems, a pause for thought as to whether it’s credible.
Well it isn’t. Not remotely. Celtic’s perverse stand on the manager means they have to stick with his plan, and his plan is to treat this league campaign as if it’s salvageable.
If that changes then there’s no reason to stick with him.
Until he goes, no top player will be allowed to depart.
Even if the board wanted to, they are bound by their own guarantees to the manager.