An article titled ‘The remaking of Olivier Ntcham’ set off a variety of opinions from Celtic fans about their former midfielder.
Signed in July 2017 for £4.5m from Manchester City after a season on loan at Genoa it seemed like Celtic had struck gold with the French u-21 player.
His first season was a constant seven or eight out of 10 playing the role of the complete midfielder, strong in the tackle, energetic and always capable of scoring a goal.
Strangely something seemed to switch off following the sale of Moussa Dembele at the end of August 2018. In the next match, Moussa-less, it was Ntcham who scored the only goal in Steven Gerrard’s first Glasgow derby, following the international break he turned in a kamikaze performance to pick up two yellow cards before half-time away to St Mirren.
From then on his performances were at best a puzzle. Brendan Rodgers couldn’t get him to deliver consistently, that situation didn’t improve under Neil Lennon who later claimed that Ntcham had been angling to get out of the club almost from the day that he arrived as caretaker.
Last season Ntcham started just 12 matches before a January move to Marseilles which made his Celtic performances seem a resounding success.
Andre Villas-Boas quit the day after the loanee arrived, after a couple of fleeting appearances he returned to Celtic but agreed a mutual termination despite playing a few pre-season matches under Ange Postecoglou.
Swansea fans seem to be getting teased in a similar way, there is undoubted quality there, probably too good for The Championship but there appears to be something missing in application or attitude that has prevented the 25-year-old from realising his early potential.
An individual who was afforded every opportunity to shine with us. He was given the biggest platform of his life, but decided instead to cause division and do things his way. Sometimes it’s best to cut your losses. https://t.co/EuMTcEmq2D
— Paul John Dykes (@PaulJohnDykes) November 16, 2021
Harsh. A very talented player that didn’t live up to his potential under a clown of a manager, the same manager that couldn’t get a tune out of Tom Rogic. Would’ve loved to see him playing under Ange but think his time was up by then. Hope he does well at Swansea.
— P*** McQ**** ?? (@Queenmachine88) November 16, 2021
It’s pretty clear now that Lennon’s treatment of some of our best players was nothing short of a disgrace, which perhaps explains why he, like McCoist, has joined the category of ‘permanently unemployable managers’
— Slimshady (@Slimshady1961) November 16, 2021
The sacrificial lamb for Scott Brown staying 2 seasons too long
— Declan (@Dechass) November 16, 2021
Read somewhere that there was a French splinter group in the dressing room that didn’t always row in behind the team.
— Joe Brown (@Jaybee1919) November 16, 2021
I’m a bit conflicted having read that article PJ. They are waxing lyrical about his technical ability yet his inconsistency jumps out of every word in the piece. Sounds just like his time at Celtic quite Frankly. I think we’ll ultimately see the same old outcome with Ntcham.
— The Celtic Poet (@macroibin) November 16, 2021
He was consistently inconsistent. Had a few stinkers for us, sadly we turned down the big money offers – ripping up his contract was just another example of mismanagement of transfers/contracts in recent years
— Bernie68 (@bras68) November 16, 2021
maybe he’s also found his level in the Championship? Maybe he’s left it too late to push higher? 25, no longer a young player.
— Simon Duddy (@simonduddywrit1) November 16, 2021
100% mate , talented player given a chance to shine , fits the stereotype of spoilt modern pro unfortunately ?
— Mairtin O’Nuallain ??? (@nolays1888) November 16, 2021
His derisory attempts at tracking Sparta Prague runners were the final straw for me
— Dan Mooney (@DanielMooney27) November 16, 2021
You just have to look at Rogic to see that Lennon doesn’t suit certain players. Christie under Lennon too, the few games he played under Ange, he looked a completely different player.
— P*** McQ**** ?? (@Queenmachine88) November 16, 2021
French guys are very talented but they overestimate their worth…think Pogba etc. From Celtic’s POV they didn’t want to dump Ntcham as they saw his potential…lack of motivation a big problem. Lenny is from an era where he can’t understand how overpaid footballers need motivation…