Dubai flak is flawed
Kennedy hits back at those sniping at Celtic’s winter jaunt
John Kennedy last night defended Celtic’s trip to Dubai, insisting it was no jolly.
Photographs of manager, Neil Lennon, and Scott Brown relaxing on sun loungers, drinks by their side, brought widespread condemnation.
But Lennon’s No. 2 insisted they gave a false impression of what he said had been a safe and productive winter training camp. Covid- 19, he said, was everywhere and could turn up anywhere. Referencing the pressure on whichever of the Old Firm was not on top at any moment, he also praised majority shareholder Dermot Desmond for bringing ‘clarity’ to the situation, through his backing for the manager.
John Kennedy last night made an impassioned defence of Celtic’s trip to Dubai.
The Hoops have been under siege for jetting out of the country at a time when Covid-19 figures were sky-rocketing.
Photographs showing manager Neil Lennon and Scott Brown, apparently drinking beer while they relaxed on sun loungers, have brought widespread condemnation, with First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, commenting it raised a question in her mind.
Kennedy, Lennon’s assistant, however, argued strongly that judging the training camp by a couple of still images was misleading and therefore unfair on his club.
“I understand snapshots arrived back in the shape of a couple of pictures, and everyone assumes that our being out there was a holiday,” he said.
“We understand 100% that if you look at a picture, the perception might be different. It might look a certain way.
“But when we were over 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 had an area to work, which was just for us.
“So we were working from morning to mid-afternoon, very hard.
“Back at the hotel, we had our own areas which we would stay around.”
Which tapped into the other big issue – that Celtic making the trip at all was a potential risk to public health.
“Whether at the hotel or in the air, we were always in our bubble,” Kennedy continued.
“We had a charter flight, and that was something we made sure to do in the right way.
“If we had to fly commercial, then we wouldn’t have done it.
“We chartered our own plane to stay in the bubble, and we didn’t breach the bubble. So everyone was 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. It can turn up anywhere.
“You saw it with the Aston Villa game the other night; I know other Scottish and English clubs have been impacted by it as well.
“We maintained our bubble in Dubai and we had strict guidelines.”
It is a message, Kennedy said, which Celtic are ready to deliver to those who govern the game and the country.
“We’ll correspond with the people who need to hear from us,” he said.
“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 is easy to jump on something and criticise.
“But it’s important that people get the full picture.
“There was a lot of effort put in to make sure we mitigated all the risks and adhered to all protocols.”
No one at Celtic, the coach insisted, took the trip lightly.
“It was a challenge this year, with Covid, and we all appreciate what it took to get there,” he said.
“We had to take extra care in terms of preparation.
“A lot of work went into it behind the scenes that people won’t know about. It was planned months in advance.
“We took advice from the Government and the Joint Response Group to make sure it was OK to travel, and it was all approved.
“All the protocols we put in place when we arrived in Dubai were also approved.
“So we knew what we were going into. There was a lot of work and effort put into it.
“And 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 as a team, and being ready for the second half of the season.”
Kennedy, meanwhile, addressed another controversial image – that showing his angry exchange with Rangers manager Steven Gerrard during last Saturday’s Old Firm showdown.
“Listen, there was nothing in it. It was a disagreement over a decision,” he insisted.
“We had a very minor chat with each other. There was nothing too extravagant about it, there was nothing in it at all.
“This happens regularly in a number of games. But because of it being the derby, it’s deemed as something unusual. It’s perfectly normal.
“We shook hands at the end of the game, and we move on.”