JOHN KENNEDY has sent a strong rebuttal to Norway coach Stale Solbakken after he told Kristoffer Ajer he wasn’t being challenged enough at Celtic.
The interim Celtic boss was asked to comment on Solbakken’s comments after Ajer helped the Hoops to a 3-0 victory in the Scottish Cup.
John wasn’t messing about and didn’t pull any punches as he branded the comments out of order and disrespectful.
“I thought it was disrespectful to both the league and the club.” John told the Daily Record.
“We are a massive club in our own right who compete in Europe every season.
“To come out with such a strong statement about what a player must do, I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.
“It’s not his position to say that. If he wanted to have a private conversation with Kris over that, fine.
“But I certainly don’t think he should be coming out publicly and telling a player what he should or shouldn’t do.
“Especially when you play at a club like Celtic. Anybody who has been at Celtic will have realised the size of it the minute they stepped through the door.
“The magnitude of it, the fan base and the expectation.
“We have had a huge part in Kris’s career to date and how he has developed into the player he is.
“There’s no doubt there will be interest in Kris because of his profile, his age and where he is at.
“But I found the statement and the comments disrespectful towards ourselves.”
There’s no doubt there are more challenging leagues out there but playing in a side where the expectation is to win every week, no matter the opposition presents its own challenges.
Ajer has developed well at Celtic and has really upped his game and character in the years he’s been at Celtic Park.
The centre-back will probably look to move on this summer to chase a bigger wage in one of the top five leagues.
Celtic could keep the big man for another season but they would have to let him go for free at the end of next season which isn’t likely to happen.
Ajer changed his agent last season, leaving his long time advocate to sign up with a major agency who broker top, money spinning deals for their clients.
