Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson has opened up on Celtic’s failed pursuit of Lee Tomlin back in 2013.
Back in Neil Lennon’s first spell in charge of the Hoops, Celtic had several offers rejected for the current Cardiff City attacking midfielder.
It all ended in distasteful fashion too. Peterborough chairman Darragh McAnthony was quick to come out during the saga and slam Celtic for how they went about their business. He stated the bids affected Tomlin, who was in action on the day of the offers (BBC).
And speaking to local outlet Peterborough Today, it appears that Ferguson’s memories of the saga are also still raw.
“One morning (in 2013) he rang me on the Saturday morning before a game and said he wanted to go to Celtic. They’d made a bid for him and he knew it. The players usually reported for work two hours before a game, but Lee was at the ground early and came over to see me in the gym and demanded to leave.
“I said he couldn’t as Celtic had only bid buttons. He wasn’t happy, but said he was okay to play that afternoon. He wasn’t so I took him off at half-time and we lost. Lee then came to see me in my office and I repeated he couldn’t leave as Celtic’s bid hadn’t been accepted.
“He didn’t take this well. He smashed something in my office, slammed a few doors and stormed out saying I was a disgrace and he would never play for me again! An hour later he rang me to apologise which was typical of him. Celtic behaved badly back then. For a club of their size to keep making bids while we were playing a game was poor.”
Nothing overly wrong with Celtic’s actions
When you revisit this whole saga, it’s difficult to see what Celtic did wrong. If the club undervalued their player then fair enough, that’s part of football. Clubs will always try to sign players for cheaper than their market value.
Because it was the day of a game means absolutely nothing. If Tomlin was taking the huff over it then that’s hardly Celtic’s fault. After all, if the player had performed well for Peterborough on the day and helped them win the game, would they have been so furious? Highly debatable.
If Tomlin knew there had been a bid sent in for him then it wasn’t Celtic’s responsibility to keep his head straight. That belonged solely to the club who paid his wages and the player himself.
For all of Posh’s moaning about this particular pursuit, they’ve yet to really say what Celtic did wrong outside of offer a bid for their star man. It’s no surprise that Tomlin didn’t end up at Parkhead given how petty and sensitive Peterborough appeared to be over the situation.
Fast forward seven years and their Director of Football is now a tad upset about Celtic’s approach regarding our pursuit of Ivan Toney (Daily Mail). As you would expect, the Hoops have never gotten involved in public nonsense like this to retaliate. That is, after all, what classy clubs do.
In other news, Celtic fans show their appreciation for striker’s attitude after a recent interview.
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