Celtic have always had great harmony in the dressing room. It’s one of the reasons why the club has been so successful.
Having managers like Martin O’Neill, Neil Lennon and Brendan Rodgers has helped build a spirit within the Celtic Park corridors that has led to the Parkhead club winning Quadruple Trebles and a second nine-in-a-row.
But sometimes training ground bust-ups happen. Celtic duo Stiliyan Petrov and Evander Sno had one back in the day, and Neil Lennon fell out with Celtic icon Martin O’Neill once.
But the one that Ian Wright witnessed that he says is the ‘worst’ he’s seen involved two ex-Celtic players whilst at a Premier League club.
Celtic duo John Hartson & Eyal Berkovic’s bust up was ‘the worst’ Ian Wright had ever seen
Everyone knows about the bust up between Eyal Berkovic and John Hartson when the Celtic duo were at West Ham.
It has been well documented in the past but here Wright describes what happened on the day that both players hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Wright said on Stick to Football, “The worst I saw was at West Ham, Eyal Berkovic and John Hartson. Being right there and even when I think of it, it’s not that people were laughing when they saw it, if his foot doesn’t catch that bit of his chest first I think he kicks his head off.
“It was crazy because with that West Ham group of lads I was with it was so crazy. I think what happened is Berkovic and John they had a little scuffle then John laid it off and Eyal does one of them little kicks in the back and John pushed him he fell, and John went, honestly, I was like ‘Wow that was so close’.”
Wright continued, “And then, it’s really weird because you got Ruddock and Moncur and everybody, the first thing they said was, ‘You alright Johnny’. I was like he nearly got his head kicked off that was the worst I’d ever seen. That was horrible.”
Keane replied “That wasn’t good. Little bust ups, that’s going to happen because there’s always tension but you’re right, that is horrible.”
Other famous bust-ups that included Celtic and Rangers managers
Everyone remembers the famous Glasgow Derby touchline spat between the then Celtic boss Neil Lennon and Rangers gaffer Ally McCoist.
After Celtic drew 2-2 with Rangers, both had a bit of words that sparked off a full-time rammy that caused headlines across the country.
Former Celtic teammates Steven Pressley and Thomas Gravesen also had a famous disagreement after the Dane dunked Pressley in a swimming pool back in 2006.
Training ground spats happen and, to be honest, they happen more than Celtic fans think. As long as it doesn’t go overboard like Hartson and Berkovic’s did then it is a harmless part of a high-pressured environment.
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