Danish boss shoulders blame says Gravesen
Tommy raging over kasper injury
KASPER SCHMEICHEL’S denmark boss has been slated for keeping secret the injury that left celtic’s goalie sidelined.
Thomas Gravesen has filleted danish
head coach Brian Riemer for not revealing the true extent of Schmeichel’s problem that has ruled him out of the nation’s crunch World Cup play-offs.
And Gravesen fears he won’t turn out for his country again.
The 39-year-old shot stopper has missed Celtic’s last four games, with Viljami Sinisalo manning the position between the posts in his absence.
Prior to their Scottish Cup quarter-final victory over Rangers, interim Hoops boss Martin O’Neill had claimed the veteran was closing in on a return to action after recovering from an illness, only for Schmeichel to confirm he is set to miss a further six weeks with a long-standing shoulder problem.
As well as key fixtures in Celtic’s title run-in, Schmeichel will also miss Denmark’s crucial World Cup play-off semi-final showdown with North Macedonia on March 26, with the winners going on to face the victors of the tie between Czech Republic and the Republic of Ireland for a place at the finals.
Schmeichel’s bombshell provoked Denmark boss Riemer to claim the injury revelation should come as ‘no surprise’, hinting he has always been aware of the Premier League winner’s issues behind the scenes.
But ex-Celtic midfielder Gravesen – an outspoken critic of Riemer – has ripped into the coach for not being more transparent with the media about the situation.
He said: “This is clearly something that goes back a long way, and again I have to blame Brian Riemer. Come on out! What kind of secrecy is this? Why is it that you can’t talk about these things when they happen? Why does it have to come as such a surprise?
“It was a bombshell when he announced his cancellation. If Brian Riemer has known about it for a long time… take charge of the situation and be the helmsman of this ship called DBU.
“Show us you know everything and you are aware of everything. Stop creating a stir in the duck pond. Take control of this huge story, which is that our top goalkeeper is suddenly not there.”
Gravesen now fears that Schmeichel won’t be able to add to the 120 caps he has won for his country, adding to Viaplay Sports: “I’m starting to wonder if this is the last we’ve seen of this fantastic goalkeeper.”
Riemer refused to rise to the bait and insisted any dialogue between him and stalwart Schmeichel would remain private.
He told Bold: “Kasper is a goalkeeper who has been a huge part of the Danish national team’s history over a very long time.
“He is probably the one I know who has the biggest and most bleeding heart for Denmark, so it is natural to ask that question.
“But as I would do with any other player, our conversations are a private matter.
“What I’m dealing with is that Kasper is injured, and everything that concerns his injury and Celtic, I’ll steer the questions that way because it’s none of our business.
“We are focusing on the players we can select .”