Fergie Jnr lifts the lid on Celtic’s move for Tomlin
DARREN Ferguson has lifted the lid on an incident back in 2013 when Cardiff City star Lee Tomlin was denied a move to Scottish giants Celtic.
The Peterborough United boss, and son of Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson, went into detail how Tomlin flew into a rage in his office after trying to force through a move to Glasgow club.
Celtic came in for Tomlin seven years ago, but in the end the transfer didn’t take place.
But Ferguson was adamant Celtic’s conduct throughout the saga did unsettle the attacking midfielder.
He told the Peterborough Evening Telegraph: “One morning (in 2013) he (Tomlin) rang me on the Saturday morning before a game and said he wanted to go to
Celtic. They’d made a bid for him and he knew it.
“The players usually reported for work two hours before a game, but Lee was at the ground early and came over to see me in the gym and demanded to leave.
“I said he couldn’t as Celtic had only bid buttons.
“He wasn’t happy, but said he was okay to play that afternoon. He wasn’t so I took him off at half-time and we lost.
“Lee then came to see me in my office and I repeated he couldn’t leave as Celtic’s bid hadn’t been accepted.
“He didn’t take this well. He smashed something in my office, slammed a few doors and stormed out saying I was a disgrace and he would never play for me again!
“An hour later he rang me to apologise which was typical of him.
“Celtic behaved badly back then. For a club of their size to keep making bids while we were playing a game was poor.”
After missing out on a move to Celtic, Tomlin eventually left Peterborough for Middlesbrough before going on to a play for the likes of Bournemouth, Bristol City and, most recently, Cardiff City.
He’s enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career over the past campaign, where he has claimed eight goals and 10 assists in helping the Bluebirds reach the Championship play-offs before losing to Fulham.