Chris Sutton offered Sead Haksabanovic a little sympathy then caned the out of favour winger for his Instagram outburst.
A change in management often results in noses being knocked out of joint but in the case of the former Rubin Kazan man he was never flavour of the month under the manager that signed him.
Straight away last year there looked to be a player in Haksabanovic, his pace seemed to be exactly what Ange Postecoglou was looking for from his wide men with an element of succession planning thrown in with another winger added to the Celtic squad.
There were real signs of promise before the World Cup break bolstered by a couple of goals but from December onwards Daizen Maeda found a very effective role in Postecoglou’s side.
So effective that Liel Abada found himself joining Haksabanovic on the bench as Jota on the right and Maeda on the left became the first pick wingers. Given opportunities Haksabanovic failed to deliver, it was still splashes of play rather than playing the effective, disciplined style demanded by his manager.
Haksabanovic may have a point but he’s out of order making his point in public. Just go and knock on the managers door and tell him if you’re unhappy… and playing well also helps!
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) August 27, 2023
The dressing room that Chris Sutton shared with Henrik Larsson, Bobo Balde, Alan Thompson and Johan Mjallby was brimming with characters, social media outbursts would have been ‘dealt with’ internally but those days are long past. Social media now sets the agenda with Brendan Rodgers duty bound to react, his discipline is at stake if he doesn’t.
With Jota sold this season was the chance for Haksabanovic to really exert himself at Celtic- on the opening day of the season he never made the 20 man squad to play Ross County.
Yang Hyun-jun has caught the eye of Brendan Rodgers, he’s been playing ahead of last summer’s winger with Haksabanovic getting three substitute appearances under the new boss.
It seems like 38 minutes yesterday didn’t suit the winger’s needs, if his agent hasn’t got something lined up it is going to be a long bleak autumn for Haksabanovic with little in the way of sympathy coming his way after his Instagram outburst.
Celtic fans have concerns about the manager, his style of play and the functioning of the club’s Recruitment Department.
But looking on at petulent players playing games on social media isn’t appreciated by concerned supporters with Haksabanovic’s stock decling fast alongwith that of any team-mates that opted to like his Sunday morning post.
