Neil Lennon revealed on Thursday afternoon that Boli Bolingoli was taking a break from Celtic first-team activity, in a bid to get him back to his best.
The Hoops boss made the slightly surprising comment during his pre-Hamilton press duties, after a journalist asked him if the Belgian full-back was carrying an injury.
“No he’s just not in the squad at the minute,” Lennon said calmly, as reported by the Daily Record.
“You know, he’s just having a bit of time out to get his top form back.”
Bolingoli’s absence hasn’t been felt
The news that a player is out of the squad, and not because of an injury, is always likely to dominate headlines.
Just look at the circus of unfair reporting that has followed Leigh Griffiths around over the past 18 months.
The truth is that players are taken out of the firing line pretty often at top clubs – you maybe just don’t hear about it that much.
Bolingoli has shown himself to be an able enough player, after a rocky start, and Lennon will just be hoping that some time on the sidelines will do him some good as he aims to get back to his best.
It’s not as if we’re short of options in the area either. Greg Taylor and Jonny Hayes are both more than capable of playing domestically and many have been calling for the former to get his chance for months.
Taylor looked excellent in our midweek win at St. Johnstone as he grabbed an assist. A few more performances like that and many Hoops fans will be asking “Kieran who?” never mind Bolingoli.
As for the former Rapid Vienna man, hopefully he can knuckle down and use Taylor’s midweek display as some motivation to get back into the team.
He’s nowhere near as bad as many would have you believe. Hopefully he can get back to showing everyone his good side.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
