Neil Lennon has stated that he’s already held a handful of Olivier Ntcham talks over the last week.
The Celtic manager has been trying to get to know his midfielder a bit better and see where he’s at. And in order to do that, he’s already held three private chats with his Frenchman to see where his head is.
After a long, drawn-out saga this summer, Ntcham made his first start of the season in Tallinn on Tuesday. Ironically after everything that’s happened, he put in a stormer of a performance, as he showed no ring-rust against Nomme Kalju.
And Lennon has moved to once again hint that things between Ntcham and Celtic have smoothed over. Speaking in the Daily Record, Lenny had this to say on Ntcham.
“I had a chat with him when he came back, we had a chat during the week and we had a good chat on Tuesday. It was just about him in general and trying to get to know him a wee bit better.
“Whether that’s had any effect on his performance in Tallinn I don’t know, but I thought he was brilliant. Whether he plays the 10 or midfield you consider he has only really been back a week or two and it was a really good all-round performance.
“Again, you have to gauge the level you are playing against and be careful. But there was a lot of good things in his performance [in Tallinn] and it was pleasing.”
Ntcham talks have hopefully helped him see error of his ways
Ntcham does deserve credit for what he produced in Estonia. He bossed the midfield for Celtic, and was like a driving force in many ways. The former Manchester City man took on plenty of responsibility, and he was one of the key reasons we left with another win.
He now throws himself right into contention for a place on Saturday. You would still expect Callum McGregor and Scott Brown to keep a hold of the midfield places, of course. Ryan Christie, meanwhile, shouldn’t be dropped in the number 10 role for Ntcham either. But he could still see some minutes against St Johnstone.
If Ntcham wants a move, performances like the one in Tallinn is what will help him. Coming out and disrespecting the club certainly won’t.
Celtic can still get something good out of Ntcham this season. If we don’t sell him this summer, there’s no reason to believe he can’t become a key player again. He owes it to the supporters to knuckle down and give his all for the team.
He did that on Tuesday night. His box-to-box nature can be so valuable to the Hoops. It’s arguable that his footwork is the most dazzling in Scotland for a central midfielder when he’s on his game.
But Ntcham has to make sure those kind of displays are consistently there. He now has the backing of the manager, and it’s time for him to start rebuilding his relationships at Parkhead again.
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