Celtic have been bombarded with criticism over their Dubai trip and the fallout shows no sign of abating
Mark Wilson has criticised his former club as the fallout from Celtic’s trip to Dubai continues.
The club have been chastised by fans, pundits and even politicians over their decision to fly abroad for warm weather training while Britain is in the grip of a pandemic.
The bad news continued upon their return as defender Christopher Jullien tested positive for Covid-19, with 13 players, Neil Lennon and John Kennedy all being required to self-isolate.
That left coach Gavin Strachan in the dugout at Celtic Park for the vital match against Hibs on Monday night, with Celtic needing a win to salvage some hope of catching Rangers.
Kevin Nisbet’s injury-time equaliser meant the champions were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw, leaving them 21 points behind Steven Gerrard’s side in the title race.
Wilson, who won three league titles and made 131 appearances in his time at the club, has lamented the club’s “PR disaster” and taken issue with comments made by Kennedy.
BBC Scotland quoted Lennon’s assistant as saying: “You guys back here got a snapshot of one or two pictures from locals or people on holiday and it probably paints a false picture.
“There’s been slip-ups with minor things which, if you get a snapshot of something, you can criticise and jump on it.
“We speak to the players as much as we can about the protocols. If there’s any error we try to eradicate that or fix it, and that’s what we did. The photo maybe paints a bleak picture, but we have to move on.”
Those comments weren’t well received by Wilson, who said on the Celtic Huddle podcast: “I couldn’t quite believe some of the pictures that were emerging, but then to come back and John Kennedy came out and said ‘There have been some minor slips of protocol’.
“Celtic’s own Twitter page had put up the players working hard to try and quell those angry fans, but it’s just an absolute PR disaster.
“When John – who is a pal of mine, great coach – comes out and says ‘Well everybody doesn’t know the full ins and outs and we were well protected’, but I mean they’ve come back and had to isolate, so it makes a mockery of that full statement.”
Fellow ex-Celtic man Simon Donnelly added: “You’re putting yourself there to be shot at. You’re putting huge pressure on yourself.
“In the current climate, you’ve got to be a wee bit self-aware. Everybody back here, restrictions, a pandemic going on.
“It’s all very well me saying it in hindsight, but as you say, it’s a PR disaster.
“It’s come back to bite them on the backside last night, dropping the points, and effectively the league is over.”
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