Celtic guilty of ‘minor slip-ups’ of protocol in Dubai, admits Kennedy
JOHN KENNEDY has admitted that Celtic were guilty of ‘minor slip-ups’ in observing Covid protocols at the club’s training camp in Dubai.
Photographs circulated online showing players and staff members apparently failing to observe social-distancing measures during the five-day trip to the Middle East.
The images prompted an intervention from Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who urged the SFA to investigate the purpose of the camp. However, the club insist they travelled with the approval of both the association and the government via Scottish football’s Joint Response Group.
‘We stayed in our bubble,’ said assistant manager Kennedy. ‘You got a snapshot of one or two pictures from locals or people on holiday and it probably paints a false picture.
‘There have been slip-ups with minor things which, if you get a snapshot of something, you can criticise and jump on it.
‘We speak to the players as much as we can about the protocols. If there’s any error we try to eradicate that or fix it, and that’s what we did. The photo maybe paints a bleak picture, but we have to move on.’
LAST Saturday, Celtic suffered a defeat to Rangers that widened the gap at the top of the Premiership table to 19 points. Fortyeight hours later, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon addressed the Scottish Parliament to place the country into strict lockdown rules.
Somewhere in between, Neil Lennon and his players boarded a plane and jetted off to the sunshine of the Middle East.
For the past five years Celtic have viewed an mid-season trip to Dubai as an essential part of their trophywinning process, a chance to escape the pressure cooker of Scottish football and hit the reset button.
This latest instalment of the annual ritual has served only to heighten the tension and scrutiny around the Premiership champions as their bid for a 10th successive title barely hangs by a thread.
Ms Sturgeon was among those to express concern after pictures circulated on social media showing the players socialising without observing the normal distancing and face-covering protocols.
Lennon’s assistant John Kennedy acknowledges the dreadful optics surrounding the club’s decision to head to Dubai just as the country was placed into harsh restrictive measures aimed at slowing the pandemic.
In a wide-ranging question-andanswer session, nominally set up to preview tomorrow night’s rearranged Premiership clash against Hibs at Parkhead, he faced some of the main issues surrounding the camp.
Q: There has been a lot of furore in reaction this trip, do you have any regrets?
JK: A snapshot arrived back home in the shape of a couple of pictures and from that everyone assumes that being out there was a holiday. It was far from that.
‘We had to take extra care in terms of preparation. A lot of work went on behind the scenes, which people won’t know about. It was planned months in advance.
‘We took advice from the Government and JRG (Joint Response Group) to make sure it was okay to travel, and it was all approved. As were the protocols put in place when we arrived in Dubai.
‘The training we could get done out there was second to none in comparison to what we could have done back in Scotland. We did it for the right reasons, in terms of what we could work on being ready for the second half of the season.
‘But, of course, there is an understanding there might be an image back here which is portrayed differently from the reality of the situation in Dubai.
‘Leading into it, we had discussions and decided we were still good to go.
‘But while we were there, the latest lockdown came into place. So that in itself makes it look worse from afar.’
Q: But is the problem not perception? No doubt there’s merit in the trip from a football point of view but can you understand fans being unhappy?
‘We understand 100 per cent that if you l ook at a picture, the perception might be different — it might look a certain way. But when we were there, we had an area of the hotel designated to ourselves.
‘We had our own entry and exit in and out of the hotel. We went to the training centre with first-class protocols.
‘We were working very hard from morning to mid-afternoon. Back at the hotel, we had our own areas which we would stay around.
‘That was our bubble. In terms of what we got out of the week from a work point of view — it was very positive.
‘We had some long intense sessions. We got a lot of coaching work done that would have been difficult to get back here. We know that from previous seasons.
‘It was a challenge this year with Covid but with help from the club, the Government, the SFA, the hotel and training centre over there, it allowed us to do it.
‘We got work done there that we know will stand us in good stead for the second part of the season.’
Q: Was it a case of weighing up the risk and reward of this camp given it has worked so well for you in previous years?
‘That’s definitely the case. When we first started talking about the trip a few months ago, things were looking better around daily life with regards to Covid.
‘Restrictions were being lifted, there was talk of getting fans back into stadiums by January.
‘Things seemed to be moving in the right direction when all the planning was done.
‘Nearer the time, things began to change and obviously we were in Dubai when the final lockdown came in.
‘Again, the perception of that will look worse. But we arrived, followed all the protocols and got the work done.’
Q: Is there a frustration the same people who approved the trip are now beating you up over it?
‘We’ll correspond with the people who need to hear from us. We’ve sent a lot of stuff back through advisors and we took the advice of everyone to make sure we weren’t stepping out of line.
‘We did what we could to make sure we weren’t breaking any rules or giving ourselves any problems.
‘Football gets a lot of exposure in the media. It’s easy to jump on something and criticise but it’s important that people get the full picture. There was a lot of effort by a lot of people to ensure we mitigated all the risks and adhered to protocols.’
Q: In previous years, you have travelled via commercial airlines. Did you have to do that again?
‘No, we had a charter flight. That was one of the paths for mitigating risk. If we had to fly commercial, then we wouldn’t have done it. We chartered our own flight which meant we didn’t breach our bubble.
‘That kept everyone as safe as they could be. Right now, everyone is pinning this on Dubai but Covid is everywhere and it is difficult to control. It can turn up anywhere.
‘You saw it with the Aston Villa game the other night.
‘We maintained our bubble in Dubai. When we got back on Friday, we went to straight back to Celtic Park where everyone was tested.’ Q: By going you passed up the chance to play at least one of your three games in hand. Was that taken into consideration?
‘Yes. We looked at that. The reality is we could have fitted in maybe one of the games. But coming out of a busy December schedule, we always feel the benefit of not then going into another busy month.
‘We felt this was the right time to hit the reset button, take a week out from the games. It always sets us up well and, ultimately, we’ll play the games anyway.’
Q: Many people have now said the title race is over. What is your and Neil’s reaction to that? ‘I understand there is a big points difference but it isn’t over until it is finished. That will be our mindset for the rest of the
UNITED FRONT: Lennon and Kennedy share the view the title race isn’t over
season. We have a lot of ground to make up. Things have to work out for us elsewhere sometimes but we have to put ourselves in a position where we can get close enough to put Rangers under a bit of pressure. We know we are capable of putting together a run of results.’
Q: Neil has had the backing of Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell to see out the season. Do you think that will help the team’s cause?
‘I think it brings clarity to the situation. There is a lot of noise around the big two in Scotland, especially when one team is well ahead of the other.
‘There is always pressure on the team who is not on top. The board have been fantastic in keeping a cool head and seeing the bigger picture in terms of how things are working behind the scenes.
‘In terms of the rumours that go around, it brings that to a close and allows everyone to focus on what is important — which is performances and results.’
Q: Shane Duffy flew home early from the Dubai. What were the reasons for that and do you expect him to see out the season at Celtic?
‘Shane had a couple of personal things that he had to leave Dubai for, so we sent him back on that basis. Following protocols, he’ll miss the (Hibs) game because he has left the bubble.
‘He has been through one round of tests and he’ll go through a second round before returning to the bubble, which is the normal protocol.
‘From then on, Shane will be in our thoughts. We had to give him some time to sort some things out.’