CELTIC FANS: CAMERON CARTER-VICKERS COMMENTS CONCERNING
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
I’ll be honest, I don’t usually watch player pre-match press conferences that often.
More often, I find that the manager’s conference is where we’ll gain genuine insight into what’s in store for the next match.
However, when Cameron Carter-Vickers spoke to the press today, I decided to tune in. What he said caught my attention for all the wrong reasons.
Cameron Carter-Vickers Comments Point to Disconnect that Will Worry Celtic Fans
Carter-Vickers was asked a series of questions about last weekend’s loss to St. Johnstone. I expected the usual stock responses of “yes, we didn’t play well,” and “we need to send out a message with a strong performance tomorrow.”
Certainly, had he said that, I would have felt he was on the same page as Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers, who was visibly fuming after last Sunday’s result.
However, the American defender had a different take, one that concerns me. I think quite a few Celtic fans will share my worries.
Carter-Vickers said: “I don’t think we played that badly. If you watch the game back, you’ll see we created enough chances that we could have scored four or five goals.
I think on any other day; we win by a few.”
I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but all I can say is “Mate, what game were you watching?”.
Celtic were poor last week. There can be no getting away from that.
Most Celtic fans do not share Cameron Carter-Vickers' positive outlook on that game. St. Johnstone fought hard, and showed the kind of spirit I would expect from a team fighting for top flight survival.
However, we can’t get away from the fact that they won because Celtic underperformed, badly. There is every chance that the very same St Johnstone team might not win another game between now and the end of the season.
I hope not, because, personally, if it’s a choice between the two, I’d much rather see Kilmarnock get relegated.
Anyway, I digress.
It is quite unsettling though, the day before a vital league match, to hear one of your senior players, one of the men we look to as a leader on the park, be so dismissive and casual about a seriously below par performance.
I wonder how many other players in the squad share Carter-Vickers’ view. I wonder if he, or indeed any other players with that mindset will start tomorrow.
Carter-Vickers is widely regarded as Celtic’s best central defender. I agree with this evaluation. However, he is not immune from criticism.
And I do think it’s a bit unfair that there seems to be a groundswell of opinion that Auston Trusty needs dropped, while Carter-Vickers has also let his performance levels slip lately.
I wouldn't be surprised if we learned later that CCV has been carrying an injury for the last few games.
At the time of writing, I haven’t yet seen Brendan Rodgers address the media today.
However, I seriously doubt he shares Carter-Vickers exceptionally optimistic appraisal of last week’s performance.
It will be interesting to see who starts in the center of defence tomorrow. Could Carter-Vickers be one of those players whose attitude Rodgers called into question last Sunday?
I sincerely hope not. He’s one of my favorite players.
But I certainly don’t think the boss will be too chuffed when he sees what the big man said to the media today.
I just hope this doesn't point to a wider disconnect between the players and the manager.
Time will tell.