Neil Lennon has responded to former Republic of Ireland international Gary Breen’s comments that Shane Duffy would regress spending a season in the Scottish Premiership at his boyhood club, as reported by The Glasgow Times.
To say he isn’t happy with the former centre-back’s claims is an understatement after he branded them “embarrassing” in his pre-match press conference for tonight’s clash against St Mirren.
When asked to give his opinion on the perception that the SPFL is of an inferior standard, he said:
“He’s just the latest in a long list of people who’ve made comments about the game up here which have been totally wrong.
“I don’t want to dwell too long on his comments but I obviously disagree with them. I think this is a great move for Shane; it’ll be good for his profile, good for his international status and he has an international manager who worked in Scotland and who know the pressures which come with playing for Celtic.
“Gary needs to educate himself better before he starts coming out with these sweeping generalisations about the Scottish game. There are a lot of big players in the Premier League down south who came from this division.
“So, I think Gary has it totally wrong, he’s completely misread the situation and it’s a bit embarrassing for him, really.”
Duffy will have to get used to an entirely different style of defending playing for Celtic and one that he has never experienced before, dominating possession and defending on the half-way line, being able to concentrate on clearing your lines and keeping the ball out the six-yard box is one thing, constantly being one-v-one against an attacker is another.
Will Duffy improve or regress on loan at Celtic?
Develop into a better defender
Become complacent playing against weaker opposition
His time in Paradise will absolutely make him a better player and for Breen – who has never played in Scotland – to suggest that he will be poorer for his spell with Celtic, is exactly as the gaffer says – “embarrassing”.