I read this morning the latest in a long line of international managers exerting pressure on players to leave Celtic.
The player in question this time was Alistair Johnston, referenced by his international manager Jesse Marsch.
A Disturbing Pattern
This is, unfortunately, hardly a new trend. Most recently, we’ve seen the Japan National Team manager Hajime Moriyasu, basically tell Kyogo to leave Celtic or forget about playing for Japan. Unfortunately, Kyogo was taken in by this, and subsequently forced through a move to Rennes.
And as a final, proverbial middle finger to the former Celt, Moriyasu called Kyogo up to the latest international squad, and didn’t even give him a place on the bench, as Japan beat Bahrain to confirm their place at the next World Cup.
Canada’s Coach in No Position to Criticize Opposition Quality
Back to the topic of Jesse Marsch. Speaking about Johnston, he said: "There are some weeks when I watch Alistair and I think... the games are too easy for him. At some point, players do need to be challenged in a bigger way.”
I wonder, how does playing against the likes of Rangers and Hibernian, compare to the giants of world football that Canada have played in their last two competitive games before this week: Suriname and Panama?
I think perhaps we dodged a bullet when Marsch opted for the mediocrity of Leeds United instead of the Celtic job. I’ll be generous and put his comments down to ignorance rather than malice.
Manipulation and Interference
Sometimes however, these international interventions are beyond poor researched guff like Marsch’s comments. As we saw last year, they can take a sinister turn and hound players into making moves they may regret.
I have a lot of respect for Liel Abada. As an Israeli international, who left Celtic during the early days of his country’s ongoing invasion of Gaza, he was put in an impossible position. I don’t doubt that various agents of both the Israeli and Scottish media offered Abada various opportunities to throw Celtic under the bus and he has consistently opted not to do so.
Slander and Threats
It doesn’t get away from the fact though that Israel’s former national coach Alon Hazan branded Celtic fans “Anti-Semetic”.
This slander was part of a broader campaign of concerted pressure from himself and several other prominent figures in Israeli football, to effectively bully Abada into eventually moving the Charlotte in America’s MLS.
Media Continues to Encourage This Nonsense
It’ll surprise no-one that The Daily Record was the first media outlet to frame a story around Jesse March’s comments.
In all of the above-mentioned examples, The Daily Record has led the line as cheerleaders-in-chief of the campaign to get these players to leave Celtic.
Alistair Johnston Handles Hysteria Brilliantly
The only person to emerge from this latest debacle with any credit is Alistair Johnston himself. He quickly slapped down any talk of him leaving Celtic imminently, much to the Record’s chagrin, I am sure.
In his usual affable style, Johnston pointed out that he can’t leave Scotland anytime soon, thanks to his dog.
He said: “I’m in no rush to take a Scottish dog out of Scotland. That’d be its own challenge.”
For further emphasis, he added: “I don’t take for granted what an unbelievable opportunity this club has given me.”
Links Between Managers and Agents Need to be Known
Referring back to Kyogo’s case, it seems his ideas of leaving Celtic began last summer. That was when, at the behest of Moriyasu himself, he chose to switch agents.
Funnily enough, the same agency that now represents Kyogo also represents Moriyasu.
I’m sure, of course that is entirely coincidental, and nothing untoward is going on there.
However, there needs to be greater transparency in this regard. Where such a potential conflict of interest exists, managers need to recuse themselves from such discussions.
Keep Club and Country Management Separate
It is illegal for clubs to tap up players, and for agents to market players to other clubs while they are under contract, without the authorization of the parent club.
However, the potential for international managers to unsettle players with seemingly innocuous comments, is there, as is the potential for conflicts of interests.
So, I hope the likes of Jesse Marsch and Hajime Moriyasu learn to sidestep such questions in the future.