Keith Jackson has uncovered the reason why Celtic were plunged into chaos with 13 players forced to self-isolate for the matches against Hibs and Livingston.
During two explosive media conferences on Monday, Neil Lennon claimed that the goalposts had been moved over the protocols while Celtic Quick News reported that a 3 metre Social Distancing rule had been introduced that only applied to Celtic. That notion seemed especially far fetched.
The issue has been something of a mystery but Jackson, the only newspaper reporter that Peter Lawwell spoke to during 2020, has shared with Daily Record readers the real reasons for the Celtic squad being decimated.
Anxious health chiefs ordered a total of 16 of Celtic’s players to miss two crucial top flight matches after studying a series of bus trips during the club’s controversial trip to Dubai.
Parkhead boss Neil Lennon described the decision as ‘ludicrous’ during his scatter-gun media address on Monday while suggesting the scale of the numbers involved pointed to a political intervention rather than a straightforward public health measure.
But Record Sport has learned the major reason so many of the travelling party had to self-isolate was based upon a probe into six separate journeys on the team coach, with the club’s own manifests showing injured defender Christopher Jullien sat in at least two different seats.
The Frenchman tested positive on his return to Glasgow to prompt an urgent investigation from track and trace experts. And it was only after they had examined those seating arrangements that it was decided that as many as 13 of his team-mates – along with three coaching staff including Lennon – would also have to stay at home for 10 days.
The decision effectively forced all of Jullien’s close contacts to sit out the home draws against Hibs and Livingston.
According to Celtic 13 players plus John Kennedy and Lennon had to self isolate, not the 16 players and three coaches mentioned in the article.
It does seem strange that none of the medical team treating Jullien were deemed to be close contacts but team-mates on coach journeys were.
Lennon will be back in the dug-out on Wednesday night for Celtic’s SPFL trip to Livingston with the majority of the 13 players that had to self isolate available for selection.
