Report: Lennon to confront Ntcham after midfielder’s ‘untimely’ comments

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon is to speak with midfielder Olivier Ntcham regarding his recent comments FC Porto.

The Frenchman told L’Equipe he was disappointed not to have joined the Portuguese giants last term. He admitted to being flattered by reported interest from Marseille, and also knocked the standard of Scottish football.

Lennon said (quoted by BBC Sport): “You can imagine, we find the comments untimely and not particularly accurate.

“I think it is fair to say that a lot of us, would it be management, players or people at the club, were not satisfied with the comments.”

Ntcham is under contract with Celtic until 2022, and the manager stressed that the star still has a future at Parkhead, but did state he will confront the former Manchester City man.

Lennon added: “When I speak to Olivier, it will be done privately, but I will be speaking to him about his mindset and his attitude towards the club as well, which, the way it came across, didn’t look good.”

TBR’s view

The perception of Ntcham at the moment is not particularly good.

His comments have upset many Bhoys supporters, who believe his words were disrespectful to the club.

Lennon has a bold decision to make now. Ntcham is a fine player on his day and he only signed a new contract last year.

But there is potential he could be a negative influence on the dressing room.

Lennon needs to quickly establish where Ntcham’s head is really at and make a decision in the best interests of the football club.

Taking the situation at face value, the midfielder’s stay looks unlikely.