Neil Lennon has responded to the bizarre claim that he didn’t treat Oli Burke correctly during his loan spell at Celtic.
West Brom Director of Football Luke Dowling made the claim as Slaven Bilic was introduced as the fourth Baggies boss since they shelled out £15m to sign the winger from RB Leipzig.
After starting just two league games in 18 months West Brom were happy to let Burke go on loan to Celtic in January with the hoops picking up a portion of his wages.
Burke’s pace isn’t up for debate but his finishing ability and basic control left a lot to be desired as Odsonne Edouard resumed his role as Celtic’s only available striker.
Celtic responded to Dowling’s comments with a statement but today Lennon explained his position to Sky Sports News:
Asked if Burke had spoken of any issues in person, Lennon told Sky Sports News: “Not that I was aware of. We treated him very well. He played a lot of games. Maybe in hindsight I was too good in treating him too well at times, compared to the rest of the group.
“I have no idea where this sort of tirade has come from. This could have been dealt with privately and professionally. As a club we have to defend ourselves robustly because it is totally unacceptable.”
Lennon added: “Without any communication beforehand. The person has come out and publicly condemned the club and myself. I think it is unprofessional and totally unjustified as well.
“I don’t know where the justification for those comments came from. Obviously we were very robust in our response. I don’t know who the individual was who was criticising either my style of management or the club in the treatment of Oli Burke. But there is just no foundation or evidence for that whatsoever.”
Burke has three years left to run on his West Brom contract as Bilic attempts to get the club back into the EPL while the clock ticks down on their parachute payments.
Some very well worked goalshttps://t.co/tMNxmqaaUz
— Joe McHugh (@videocelts) June 27, 2019