Chris Sutton has not held back in his assessment of Kasper Schmeichel’s injury announcement, criticising the Celtic goalkeeper for what he described as selfish behaviour in a column for the Daily Record.
It is worth acknowledging upfront that Schmeichel deserves genuine sympathy. The prospect of a long and distinguished career ending in this manner is genuinely sad, and no one should lose sight of the human element at the centre of this story.
That said, there is another dimension to this situation, and Sutton has given voice to something that a number of Celtic supporters have been saying since the news broke.
His central point was straightforward. In Schmeichel’s emotional disclosure on CBS Sports, he spoke almost exclusively about his World Cup ambitions and what the injury means for his international future with Denmark. According to Sutton, Celtic were barely mentioned. The club that has been paying his wages and depending on him throughout a title race appeared to be secondary to the goalkeeper’s personal agenda.
Sutton said in the Daily Record that he likes and admires Schmeichel but could not ignore what struck him as a player placing his own ambitions above the needs of his team. He said he may be doing the goalkeeper a disservice and acknowledged Schmeichel would have his own explanation, but the impression left was of a player who had been managing a serious injury while continuing to play, not out of commitment to Celtic’s cause, but in pursuit of his own World Cup dream.
There is an uncomfortable truth in that observation. Celtic supporters have a right to feel aggrieved if a goalkeeper was playing through a debilitating injury without the club or the fans being made aware. A player in that condition is not at full capacity, and Celtic’s results this season may have reflected that.
Sutton understands what wearing that jersey demands. Players who have given everything for Celtic have set a standard that does not allow for divided loyalties, and if Schmeichel’s primary motivation for continuing to play was preserving his international career rather than helping Celtic retain the title, that is a legitimate grievance for supporters to hold.