Celtic fans were left shocked at Timo Weah saying his goodbyes so suddenly on Friday after training as normal at Lennoxtown on Friday morning.
The American went from being in the squad and potential starter at Ibrox to being told to clear out his locker. His call up to the Under 20 international squad meaning he couldn’t make the Scottish Cup Final.
Timo then posted a message to the Celtic support via Instagram which was very interesting. The USA international chose his words carefully and spoke of being told he was best to collect his things and go if he wasn’t going to be here for the cup final.
This sparked outrage among some of the support who were outraged at Neil Lennon’s handling of the situation.
It was then reported on Superscoreboard that the player was told to leave after a compromise was reached with Celtic and the USA so Timo could play in the Cup Final but apparently the attacking midfielder turned down the chance of that compromise at which point Lennon sent him packing.
Everyone is going to have strong opinions on this one but, for me, both men have done absolutely nothing wrong and there’s no need to take sides or be annoyed with either. We shouldn’t be annoyed at Timo for playing for his country and we shouldn’t give Lennon abuse for doing what he did.
Timo wants to play for his country albeit at under 20 level at the World Cup and coming back for the Scottish Cup Final would have seen him miss a game so he’s opted out of doing so – that’s his prerogative and he’s entitled to do that and I wish him well.
Neil Lennon had made a concerted effort in the last two games to give Timo proper game time in the run-up to the final and was probably in the Irishman’s thoughts for the game at Ibrox and the cup final. When Neil has heard Timo was unwilling to compromise when the club has tried its best to make him available for the final then there would be nowhere else to go but shake the player’s hand and send him on his way.
If it has transpired like the reports have suggested then neither men should be vilified for what they’ve done.
if Weah was offered a compromise and chose the USA over a bit of history then so be it. I’m glad Lenny called him on it…and did the right thing for the team/squad dynamic. Lennon also showing he is not afraid to call people out who aren’t committed.