The Dubia story keeps rumbling on and next up to have his say is Tom English. His analysis of the debacle is curt and straight to the point. The BBC pundit believes that Celtic’s lack of remorse for their actions is “risible” and reeks of “self entitlement”, and no matter your opinion on the matter, it’s not hard to disagree.
Writing for the BBC Sports Website, English said, “A year ago it was Rangers who imploded upon their return from Dubai and now it’s Celtic. A year ago it was Celtic who went roaring away to the title and now it’s Rangers. A year ago all the questions about mentality and decision-making and management were asked of the Ibrox board, Steven Gerrard and his players and now those same questions are being asked of Peter Lawwell, Neil Lennon and his players.
“Their statement on Monday suggested they still can’t see, or don’t want to see, the problem with the trip to Dubai. There was no acceptance that they did anything wrong, no contrition, no nod to the anger of a great number of their own supporters who are paying hundreds of pounds to watch television pictures of a team in decline, who are locking down and whose working lives and personal circumstances might be hugely affected by the world we’re living in right now.
“The reason so many are self-isolating is because plane and team bus manifests identified them as close contacts of Jullien. If there was no trip to Dubai there’d have been no plane, no need of a team bus. By travelling they put themselves in danger. They did it. Nobody else. Judging by their statement, Celtic would appear to be tone deaf to all of this.”
There are some, like me, that are of the opinion that the club did nothing wrong. They broke no rules doing what they did. Dubai was a safe flight zone, the trip was organised and the intention was to stay in their bubble. The trip was ill advised, but not illegal. But their are questions to be answered. In fact, one MAJOR question. Why was Christopher Jullien allowed to travel if this was meant to be a training week when he is out of action for 3 months due to injury? If he was left home, then the furore would not be anywhere near to what it is now.