Nir Bitton comes out swinging at his Celtic critics with fiery comments

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Celtic utility man Nir Bitton has come out swinging at his critics as he stated that people don’t need much of an excuse to have a pop at him.

Bitton has been with the Hoops for over eight years. However, despite his longevity, he’s always struggled to be one of the favourites amongst the support.

His switch from midfielder to centre-back has led to plenty of criticism whenever errors have occurred. The general consensus is that because Nir isn’t a natural centre-back, he leaves Celtic widely exposed when he starts in that position. This, ultimately, leads to criticism of his performances.

But it’s clear he’s not having any of it. Discussing his critics via the Scottish Sun, Bitton was in no mood to entertain them:

“I don’t listen to the noise outside. I trust my ability and know who I am. A lot of times I think people judge me in the wrong way because I signed for Celtic as a midfielder. The fact is, I have played a lot of games in defence and I’m fine with that.

“I have watched a lot of games where top defenders make mistakes. All of them. There isn’t one defender who doesn’t make mistakes. But if I make a mistake people say, ‘It’s because he’s not a defender’. That’s why I don’t listen to the crowd and I don’t listen to the noise outside.

“I think, with me, a lot of people are biased. They have their opinion of me and want to stick to that no matter what. They don’t need any excuse to make comment on me. I know when I have played a good game or played a bad game.”

Nir Bitton needs to be careful who he’s addressing as he responds to Celtic criticism

There’s nothing wrong with a player showing a bit of fight. And in fairness to Nir, he certainly gets a raw deal at times whenever he makes a mistake. Particularly at the back.

But he must be wary of being critical of the support here. He states he doesn’t listen to the crowd or the noise. To me, he’s being a bit too dismissive of the Celtic support’s opinion of him. If he’s going to leave Celtic the heroic figure he wants to be then he needs to take the views of the fanbase more seriously than he comes across here.

Bitton was back in his midfield role against Aberdeen on Sunday. It’s fair to say he impressed even if he was beaten in the air too easily for the equaliser.

For that moment alone, Nir came under plenty of criticism. That’s despite the fact he generally put in a positive display and added some balance to the midfield. So you can understand the frustration he holds.

But there’s also a reason why he isn’t a Celtic regular this season. Whilst he has eight appearances to his name, only four of them have been from the start. With no real injury problems this season, Bitton has been left on the sidelines because he isn’t a reliable enough option at the back.

That’s something he’ll also need to understand as he dismisses his critics.

In other news, Kyogo Furuhashi to Southampton rumour rightly laughed off by Celtic fans