Celtic May Yet Have The Last Laugh In The Strange Case Of Jack Hendry.

There was an odd story on the websites last night, and I’m assured that it is true. The story is about Jack Hendry, who has been told, after one season at Brugge, that he is no longer in their first team plans and is free to find a club.

I thought we had been grafted by Oostende.

But it turns out that it was Brugge who were really taken on. Because although he was impressive for the side he went out on loan to, he didn’t do nearly as well once they sold him for a big profit.

My concern was always that if Hendry was worth the money Brugge paid then we were made to look like mugs by including a “right to buy” fee in the deal. Ironically, we benefited from exactly the same thing in the deals for Carter Vickers, Jota and hopefully for Moritz Lenz. We seem to have good judgement. Brugge appear not to.

Jack Hendry always looked cumbersome and a little out of his depth in a Celtic shirt. I’ve seen him have good games, for us and for Scotland, but whenever he was in a high pressure environment he didn’t seem to perform nearly as well.

And maybe it’s as simple as that.

Maybe Brugge thought he could handle the pressure and then found out that he couldn’t.

I always thought he was a decent enough player, but as this site has repeatedly pointed out that’s not the only thing that counts … you have to be able to do it when it matters. You have to show consistency.

And you need to be able to take life at the summit, life at a big club, where the expectations are high and the pressure is intense. Jack Hendry might not be cut out for that altitude. They don’t call that point above the oxygen line the Death Zone for nothing.

Maybe we got the better of this deal after all.