The way Kasper Schmeichel’s injury came out still feels strange. There was no build-up. No clear warning from the club. Instead, it surfaced live on a CBS broadcast, with the goalkeeper speaking openly alongside his father Peter.
That moment caught people off guard. Supporters heard it there first. So did many inside the game. It was raw and unfiltered, which is not how these things are usually handled.
In the days since, there has been a clearer picture. The injury is worse than first thought. Surgery is required. The timeline stretches well beyond the end of the season.
He said: (Sky Sports), “I must admit, I was surprised by its severity. I knew he was having injections to play some of the games, but that’s not a great remedy. I didn’t realise how bad it was, so I’m disappointed to hear the news.
“I don’t think that went terribly well, from what he was telling me. It caused a lot of inflammation, doing the exact opposite of what was intended. He was making decent progress at the time, but then he went back. To find out it’s too bad to continue is unfortunate.
“We’ve all done it; I did it myself many years ago, trying to play through injury and get an injection to get through a game.
“I didn’t know it was as severe as it turned out to be, potentially career-threatening because of his age and things like that.
“If that was the first announcement, I would have preferred to hear it myself.”
It also explains the last few months. Schmeichel had been playing through it. Injections were getting him onto the pitch, but they were not fixing the problem.
From a football point of view, Celtic have already adjusted. Viljami Sinisalo has stepped in and kept his place. The defence now works with a different voice behind it.
For supporters, the frustration is understandable. News like this usually comes from the club first. This time, it didn’t.
Now the focus moves on. Schmeichel faces a long recovery, and Celtic move into the run-in without their first-choice goalkeeper.
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