Former Celtic striker Vakoun Bayo has blamed injury woes and a lack of trust in him as to why it didn’t work out at Parkhead.
Bayo was signed by Brendan Rodgers in January 2019 for £2m [Glasgow Times]. However, his spell in Scotland only lasted 18 months before he was shipped out on loan to Toulouse. Bayo would then be sold last summer permanently to Gent, with only 2 Celtic goals to his name [Transfermarkt].
So far this season, he’s hardly proved Celtic wrong to let him go. He’s yet to find the back of the net in Belgium as his struggles continue. He’s already been punted out to Charleroi on loan, where he’s still yet to score.
And the player believes he just hasn’t had enough trust invested in him when looking back on his spells at the likes of Celtic and Gent.
As quoted by the Daily Record, the Ivorian said: “At Celtic, I had a few injuries that delayed my career. I had to look elsewhere to get more playing time. That’s why I lack a bit of stability. But I know my qualities and I know that I can go further in my career.
“Of course, I want to prove to Gent that they were wrong, but I won’t talk about revenge. Let’s say that, previously, I worked with managers who didn’t necessarily trust me. It’s a matter of choice, but a striker needs confidence. At Gent, I can’t say it was a language problem because most of the players spoke French, but this is far better. It’s exciting to play for a better club.”
Vakoun Bayo – simply not good enough or didn’t get his Celtic opportunity?
Bayo seems to have his mind made up on what went wrong at Celtic Park. It was down to him simply not being given a chance and momentum being broken up via injuries apparently.
His argument does carry some weight. Just when he was picking up some form in the early stages of the 2019/20 campaign, a knock kept him on the sidelines for a substantial period. He was never able to rediscover that spark, and his confidence was rocked afterward.
However, you can’t blame Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon for refusing to give him much in the way of action. Bayo never appeared to suit Celtic’s quick, attacking football despite being a centre-forward. His hold-up play wasn’t impressive enough whilst he often took too long to release the ball. Bayo simply slowed down too many attacks.
Could the manager seriously have justified dropping Odsonne Edouard for Bayo? We also had a more impressive Leigh Griffiths available to us at the time also. The Ivory Coast U23 international just wasn’t cut out for life here.
Hopefully he can find his way in Belgium. It’s clearly been a tricky few months since he left the club. Gent giving him out to Charleroi is perhaps a sign of just how little an impact he’s made. It’s also likely vindication for Celtic’s decision to sell him too.
Fingers crossed he can get a bit of a break and show a more productive side to his game. He could certainly do with a little bit of luck.
In other news, Hibs captain admits team struggling to bond ahead of Celtic Park trip
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