‘Still very happy’ – Celtic outcast makes admission after unexpected cup final reprieve

Tue 22 May 2018 11:52, UK

Celtic centre-back Jozo Simunovic has admitted that the second-half of the season was frustrating for him but he wants to stay and fight for his first-team place with the Hoops.

The 23-year-old lost his place in the side to Kristoffer Ajer, but he made an unexpected appearance as a second-half sub replacing Ajer in the Scottish Cup Final win over Motherwell.

The Bosnian disclosed that after talks with Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers, he plans to stay and fight for his place at the club next season.

“The second half of the season was frustrating but by the end it was okay. I’ve been ready to play all the time and it’s just been down to the decision of the manager” he said, as quoted by the Herald.

“He explained it to me and I’m still very happy here. I cannot tell you what he said – that must remain personal – but it was a very good conversation.”

Simunovic lost his place in the Hoops side following the 4-0 loss to Hearts in December.

Football Insider verdict

If you look at the number of games Simunonvic has played for the Hoops in the last two seasons, you can see that his stock has fallen. In 2016-17, he made 25 league appearances for the Bhoys, whilst in the season just ended he only made 15 league appearances, and the last of those was in a meaningless league game. If the player wants to become a regular in the first-team again, he will need to pick up his performances to ensure that he becomes a first-team regular again, as being involved in less than half of the team’s league games is the definition of a squad player, perhaps the cup final appearance was a sign that the player still has a future at the club but it is too early to tell on that yet, but it is intriguing that the 23-year-old wants to remain in Glasgow and try and return to first-team action on a regular basis for the Scottish champions.