Johnny Kenny’s daft comments do not make his case stronger at Celtic.

There are some things you read in disbelief, and this week was one of them. Johnny Kenny mocking a league he struggled in.

If he wants to come back to Celtic at some point, he needs to be scoring more goals than he is now. More than that, he should stop comparing League One to Celtic and the SPFL, because that kind of talk risks showing he does not understand the size of the step he still has to take.

I’m honestly struggling with this one.

I’ve read Johnny Kenny’s comments comparing the SPFL to League One several times and, frankly, my head is gone. It is one of those moments where you double-check the source because you cannot quite believe a player in his position would actually say it out loud. To me, those comments suggest a player who still does not fully understand what Celtic is, what Celtic demands and what it means to succeed here.

That is the heart of the issue.

This is not really about one quote in isolation. It is about mindset and awareness. It is about whether a young striker who still has everything to prove actually understands the challenge in front of him.

Because talking is cheap. Delivering at Celtic is something else entirely.

I think the overwhelming feeling here is disbelief. We are talking about a young player who has not even scratched the surface at Parkhead yet, but who is speaking as though he has already mastered the level. His comments are just plain daft. If League One in England really was up to the standard of the SPFL our own league would be full of its players and they would all be playing starring roles. They’re not.

That is what makes this so frustrating. Kenny may or may not still have unfinished business here, and yet the tone of the comments feels detached, premature and just a bit too pleased with himself. That attitude stinks, if I am being blunt.

If Johnny Kenny wants to convince Celtic that he can be trusted as a serious attacking option, then the route is very simple. Score goals. Score them consistently. Let your football do the talking. Strikers earn credibility through output, not these lazy comparisons, not soundbites and not smart remarks about leagues they have not exactly dominated.

That is the part that matters most to me.

There is a disconnect here between the way he is speaking and what he has actually done. Kenny talks about dreams and big occasions, but his impact in Celtic colours has been minimal. Before he went out to Bolton, he had chances this season. He made appearances. He got opportunities. Yet he only managed six goals in 23 games.

It was not just the number either. It was the nature of some of the misses. He was dropped to the bench under Martin O’Neill after missing big chances, and fans did not imagine that. They watched it happen. So, when he now talks in this way, it jars, because the evidence simply does not support the confidence.

Yes, he has found a bit of form at Bolton Wanderers, and four goals in 11 games is decent enough. But decent enough in League One does not earn you the right to act as though the gap to Celtic is tiny. That is the dangerous part of what he is doing.

Because Celtic is different.

I have watched enough football, and followed Celtic long enough, to know that not all leagues are built the same. The rules may be the same. The sport may be the same. But the reality inside those leagues is not remotely the same.

Celtic does not just ask you to play. Celtic asks you to dominate. It asks you to break down teams that come to frustrate. It asks you to live with relentless pressure and to understand that anything less than a win will often be treated as failure. That is before we even touch on Europe, or the matches that define seasons and stay with supporters for years.

So, when I hear League One spoken about in the same breath, as though this is what finally prepares him for the next big step at Parkhead I do not hear confidence. I hear very misplaced over-confidence, bordering on arrogance. I hear a player who may not fully grasp the size of the leap he is trying to make.

A brutal, unforgiving leap where better players, more experienced players and players with much stronger CVs have all fallen short.

That is the reality of Celtic.

There are no easy games at Celtic. Even when the opposition sits deep and everyone expects a comfortable win, that creates a different kind of test. It becomes about patience, movement, intelligence and, above all, delivery. You do not get endless chances to prove yourself. You either take them or you fade into the background, and once that happens it becomes very hard to claw your way back.

That is why I struggle with the mindset here.

It is not even just about the goals or the numbers. It is about awareness.

This is about understanding where you are in your career and what you still need to prove. When Johnny Kenny starts making these comparisons, I cannot help feeling there is a hint of complacency creeping in, a suggestion that the gap is not as big as it clearly is.

That is dangerous.

Does he really understand what is required? Does he truly appreciate the level he needs to reach? Because if he did, I do not think we would be hearing these comparisons at all.

You can say what you like in interviews. You can frame things however you want. But in the end, it is numbers, performances and impact that define you. Especially as a striker. Especially at a club like Celtic, where the job is brutally simple and brutally unforgiving: score goals, or someone else will.

And it is not only about output. It is about humility too. It is about recognising that you are still on the outside looking in, that you have not yet earned that shirt or that trust. There is no shame in that. Every player has to climb that ladder. But the worst thing you can do while climbing is start acting like you have already reached the top.

Because that is when you slip.

Celtic is not a development ground. It is a proving ground. You arrive ready, or you do not arrive at all. If you are trying to convince the people making those decisions, then the last thing you should be doing is creating doubts with daft comparisons that do not stand up to scrutiny. Because they will be scrutinised.

Every word. Every statistic. It all gets weighed.

And right now, I cannot shake the feeling that this is not helping Kenny’s cause at all. If anything, it pushes him further away from where he wants to be. Not because he lacks ability. I am not even making that argument. I am saying the mindset in those comments does not quite match the reality of the challenge ahead.

For me, it comes back to something very simple.

If he wants Celtic, then prove it. Prove it on the pitch, week after week, goal after goal, performance after performance. Force the conversation to change. Force people like me to stop questioning and start believing.

Because until that happens, all of this feels premature. It feels like talking ahead of the evidence.

And Celtic, of all clubs, will not bend to that.

So the choice is his. He either knuckles down, sharpens his focus and shows that he truly understands the level he is aiming for, or he keeps going down this road where the words get louder but the substance does not follow.

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