The echo chamber of Scottish football punditry often blurs the line between genuine analysis and baseless speculation, and the recent commentary surrounding Kasper Schmeichel is a prime example.
Following the veteran goalkeeper’s recent absence from the Celtic starting lineup, which saw understudy Viljami Sinisalo step into the breach, the panel on the Open Goal podcast decided to abandon tactical debate in favour of questioning the 39-year-old’s core professionalism.
Led by Si Ferry, Paul Slane, former Hoops winger Aiden McGeady, and Andy Halliday, the conversation quickly descended into wild theories about Celtic’s injured number one.
Instead of accepting that a seasoned international might simply be managing an injury or a genuine illness, Slane casually suggested Schmeichel had ‘spat his dummy out’ after being benched for Sinisalo.
Ferry doubled down, implying the keeper was faking being unwell, while McGeady pondered if Schmeichel’s ‘ego’ was preventing him from accepting he had made errors, as well as questioning if he is actually injured.
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Kasper Schmeichel’s professionalism questioned as Viljami Sinisalo takes Celtic’s gloves
There is no doubting that Schmeichel has produced error-prone displays this season, and his showing during Celtic’s first-leg defeat to VfB Stuttgart in the Europa League is a prime example.
Days later, Celtic would travel to Ibrox for their Premiership encounter, with Schmeichel not even in the matchday squad, but he returned for the trip to Germany.
During the past week, Sinisalo has continued wearing the main gloves, including at Ibrox again for the Scottish Cup quarter-final, with O’Neill citing illness and injury for Schmeichel’s continued absence.
But Open Goal continue to be incredibly disrespectful to a player of Schmeichel’s undeniable pedigree.
He has played at the absolute highest level for over a decade. To casually accuse a model professional of throwing a tantrum and faking an injury just because Sinisalo was handed an opportunity is an odd, entirely unfair leap. It is time for the pundits to lay off the Celtic star.
Si Ferry: “It does look like he has now dropped Schmeichel for Sinisalo, and it looks to be a great decision.”
Andy Halliday: “Justified.”
Paul Slane: “You (Ferry) weren’t happy with it, mate.”
Ferry: “I know. I have had a shocker with that. My inbox was full. I would have just gone with Schmeichel because of his experience until the end of the season. Purely off the fact that I hadn’t seen much of Sinisalo, so I don’t know if he was any good.”
Aiden McGeady: “It’s good management, though, because you are bringing in a guy who has it all to prove, wants to prove and is hungry. Schmeichel was getting a lot of stick, wasn’t he? For poor performances and the mistakes he was making. But he has had enough to go, ‘I am actually going to put him in there.'”
Slane: “Do you think Schmeichel still isn’t well?”
Ferry: “We got cained for that, supposedly. For saying, ‘there is nothing wrong with him.'”
Slane: “I heard he spat his dummy out, ain’t he?”
Ferry: “It would suggest that he has, hasn’t he? He’s not still ill.”
McGeady: “No, I wouldn’t have thought so.”
Slane: “He has been carrying an injury, though, hasn’t he?”
Halliday: “But he has been playing with the injury.”
Slane: “I know. Maybe they have just agreed that this isn’t right. ‘We can’t keep playing you’, because a lot of the balls he couldn’t get to. He was causing so many goals.”
Ferry: “Do you think we will see him again on the bench this season? Or do you think that’s him done?”
McGeady: “I am not sure. He is an experienced player who has played at the highest level. But how do they take that, being left out of the team? Is he happy to go back and sit on the bench? I can’t imagine he is, so I don’t know.”
Halliday: “I can understand that if he has played alright. But surely he has felt there is a chance I might get dropped with the errors he has had?”
McGeady: “Maybe he’s got an ego where he is saying, ‘No, I wasn’t at fault for any of these goals. Or didn’t make any mistakes, so I don’t agree with it.’ I don’t know. I don’t think he is injured, though.”
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