Former Republic of Ireland centre-back Gary Breen has launched a cheap and uninformed dig on both Celtic and Scottish football.
Breen was talking about Shane Duffy’s move to Parkhead after the on-loan defender opened his Hoops account yesterday. Duffy headed Celtic 3-0 ahead early in the second half against Ross County in Dingwall to make his debut one to remember.
However, for some bizarre reason, it attracted real criticism of Scottish football from Breen. The former Barnet and Sunderland defender told Off The Ball that Duffy moving to Scotland was “a concern” and that he may pick up “bad habits”.
“Listen I called it. If he doesn’t score double figures, I’ll be amazed. This is a brilliant move for Celtic, but the quality of player he is playing against will be a big concern for Ireland.
“He is not going to be up against quality centre-forwards. There is no centre-forward in Scotland who would play in a Premier League team. None.
“He might pick up a few bad habits [in Scotland], not because he is lazy but that he isn’t up against quality centre-forwards. Even the likes of Virgil van Dijk came down to Southampton from Celtic with dreadful habits. He wouldn’t get into the right positions quickly enough because he didn’t have to with Celtic.”
Spoken like a player who wasn’t good enough to play in Scotland
It’s not that Breen is trying to be disrespectful to Celtic here, he probably doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. However, what he comes across like is of someone who has never experienced Scottish football.
And it’s clear that Celtic great Chris Sutton wasn’t pleased either. He labeled his response “idiotic” as he touched on it on his Twitter page:
For a start, Duffy is coming to a club for the first time his career that, no matter who you’re playing, you’re required to win. If anything, he’ll be bringing a winning mentality to that Ireland set-up – hardly something their current set of players have at the moment.
In addition to that, he’ll be tasting European football for the first time in his career too. If Celtic make the Europa League group stages, he could come up against some of the best strikers football has to offer. After all, Celtic fazed Lazio’s Ciro Immobile last season – the winner of the 2019/20 European Golden Shoe.
To say that Duffy will pick up bad habits at a club that demands you perform at your best every week is simply insulting. If Breen was ever good enough to experience life at Parkhead, he’ll have known the demand placed on the club’s players.
This idea that Celtic should be almost honoured that certain Premier League players want to sign for them is laughable. Plenty of Premier League regulars have come up here in the past and failed to perform. Duffy will be tested to his limit here in a season brimming with pressure.
But of course, there’s no point preaching to those like Breen who aren’t interested in listening. He may have 64 caps for Ireland (Transfermarkt), but when it comes to Scottish football, it’s clear he doesn’t know a lot.
In other news, Celtic boss Neil Lennon joked that this international is getting dropped after goading him about a certain result last week.
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