BOYATA EXCLUSIVE
MY TEAMMATES DON’T HATE ME I’LL BE BACK WITH HOOPS ON MONDAY
Dedryck Boyata is on the verge of a shock Celtic comeback.
The defender’s Hoops days seemed to be numbered after he refused to travel to Greece for the Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens.
But Boyata insists he’s ready to play for the club again and boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed that he will be back
involved for this week ’ s Europa League play-off against FC Suduva – once he apologises to his team-mates.
Boyata impressed for Belgium at the World Cup and Celtic rejected a £9million bid from Fulham for the centre-back who has one year left on his deal.
The 27-year- old insisted he was on the treatment table and not “100 per cent operational” as the Hoops crashed out of the Champions League.
Rodgers wasn’t happy and Celtic players were reportedly raging with their team-mate’s conduct, not to mention the supporters.
But Rodgers held clear-theair talks with Boyata at Lennoxtown on Thursday and when MailSport approached the Belgian at his Glasgow home yesterday, he insisted that he’ll be back in a Hoops shirt.
Boyata told us: “I’m feeling good, I’m strong and I’ ll be training on Monday. One thing you need to know is that things with the boys are good. There are no problems there.
“I have no issues with the fans or my team-mates.”
After yesterday’s 3-1 Betfred Cup victory over Partick at Firhill, Rodgers said that Boyata deserved to redeem himself after “making a mistake”. The Celtic gaffer – who handled a similar situation with Luis Suarez at Liverpool – said: “I had a long chat with Dedryck and he’s still a Celtic player.
“I want him to be involved and I know he’s a good guy. Everyone makes mistakes and, even though it’s not the way in modern life, people need a chance to redeem themselves.
“If that’s the case, I’d like to have him involved again because he’s a top class player.
“Has he apologised? Whatever has been said will be kept internal but before anyone will join the group, that will have to be the case, to staff and players.
“So if you take it that he’ll join the group, that will be the case. The players will accept him back because they’re an honest group. They are winners, they’re always demanding but they’re humble.
“Last week we wanted players and some weren’t available for a number of reasons. But this is a group that’s very much together. The collective spirit is very strong, it’s something we’ll continue to have.
“He’ll be involved this week? Absolutely. It was raw for everyone last week, the team and the supporters. But I’ve been in this situation before with Suarez at Liverpool and that worked out OK so I’m pretty sure this will be as well.
“It was important to have the discussion with him.
“After the Champions League there was anger and frustration but it’s important to stay calm and remember how Dedryck has been for me. It wasn’t just about him, other people were around the situation.
“We’ve had a couple of days to keep at arm’s length and we’ll sit down again on Monday. I’m pretty sure he’ ll be back with the squad.
“Everything is clean and we move forward. He’ s an outstanding player and we want our best players available to us.
“Redemption always takes a wee bit of time. The Celtic supporters are demanding but they accept well and if Dedryck puts the shirt on again, I know he’ll be committed as ever.
“If you show that to the Celtic support, they will always be behind you.”
Leigh Griffiths backed up his manager by insisting Boyata will be accepted back into the fold for the first leg against Suduva . The striker said: “We’ll welcome Dedryck back into the group next week. The manager and everyone above us will deal with the matter internally. As players, we just focus on the job in hand.
“There will be no resentment. Odsonne Edouard missed the game on Tuesday as well and there’s no resentment there. We need to move on and forget about it. We’ve got a massive game on Thursday and if Dedryck comes back in we will welcome him.” Rodgers ( left) endured his toughest week as Celtic boss after the losses to Hearts and AEK – and the Boyata situation. But after two years of success, he isn’t about to start panicking.
He wasn’t pleased with the performance in the win over Thistle but was delighted to reach the last eight.
Rodgers said: “I’ve been OK. If I was a young first-time manager then it might have been tougher.
“It’s important to stay calm. We have experienced some- thing this week that we’re not used to. There’s disappointment but I’ve learnt that there can be a lot of noise, especially at a big club like Celtic. You must have a filter system to shut it out so you can stay focused and get the team back together.
“Going out of the Champions League was a sore one and circumstances didn’t help.
“But we have to accept it and it doesn’t have to stop us having a really exciting season.
“The Europa League is still a very prestigious competition. Everyone wants the Champions League for the money and the glamour but there are still great rewards in the Europa.
“We have to keep working hard to get the opportunity again.
“Today was a good result but not a very good performance. We were too passive but our objective was to win through to the quarter-final.
“Our pressing and intensity wasn’t at the right level and we got into a hole at 1-1.
“We turned the tempo up a bit and got two more very good goals. But performance-wise we need to be much better.”