Riseth unconvinced by Ajer pricetag
VIDAR RISETH has warned Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer he may not be the hot property he was once considered.
The big Norwegian was tipped for a glamour move by interim Parkhead manager John Kennedy following Saturday’s return to form against Aberdeen, but his fellow countryman and former Celtic midfielder Riseth is not so sure.
Ajer – who enters the final year of his Celtic contract in the summer – has been watched closely by Serie A giants AC Milan over the past 12 months but Riseth fears the fallen Scottish champions’ huge dip in form this season may tempt the Italian side to look elsewhere.
The 22-year-old has been a mainstay in a defence which has already shipped 43 league goals this term – compared to just 19 in the whole of last season – plus another 21 in just 10 European ties.
He told the PA news agency: “It’s difficult to say where Kris will end up next year.
“Before this season he played really well and big clubs like Milan were looking at him. He was hot in the market.
“This season, though, he hasn’t done quite so well.
“It’s important to keep going well year after year if you want to reach a major club.
“If he is going to leave Celtic, of course he wants to find a new club – but maybe he’s not going to find a top, top club because you have to be doing well for Celtic if that is to happen.”
Ajer was one of the players reported to have angered former boss Neil Lennon earlier this season by expressing a desire to move ahead of the club’s disappointing Champions League exit to Ferencvaros.
Riseth said: “Kris is a clever boy and and he will know he cannot be thinking about other teams if he does want to leave, because that will make him play bad. He has to keep thinking, ‘I’m a Celtic player, I want to give everything for Celtic’ – that’s the way to make the big clubs take notice.”
HAMILTON manager Brian Rice will be taking nothing for granted when his side host Betfred Cup winners St Johnstone this evening, with the 57-yearold pouring cold water on the theory that Callum Davidson’s men could find it difficult to lift themselves upon their return to league duty after Sunday.
The Perth outfit won only the second piece of major silverware in their history thanks to their 1-0 victory over Livingston at Hampden over the weekend, but will be brought back down to earth when they visit the FOYS Stadium tonight.
Rice, however, pooh-poohed the notion that Accies’ opponents could struggle to motivate themselves for the Premiership fixture – insisting that cup successes will only bolster confidence, as opposed to allowing complacency to creep in – before predicting that his side’s recent upturn in form should lead to a tight encounter.
“I never found that,” he explained. “We were in a few cup finals at Nottingham Forest and it was great to be going into games having won a trophy and on a high.
“You want to be playing every game and I’m sure that’s how the St Johnstone players will be feeling. I’m sure that’s how Callum will want them to feel – use it as a springboard. I think they’ll be on a high and rightly so.
“I’ve been encouraged for most of this season. Things haven’t gone well at times for a variety of reasons but we can’t dwell on that, we can only think about what’s going to happen against Livingston.
“If we continue to perform the way we have been then it’ll be a close game. There isn’t a great deal between all of the teams in the division apart from the top two: with the rest of us then, our day, anyone can beat anyone else.”