SHELL-SHOCKED skipper Scott Brown admitted he was stunned to hear from Neil Lennon that some of his team-mates want to quit Celtic.
The Hoops boss didn’t name names in his angry aftermatch comments following the 2-1 Champions League exit from non-seeded Ferencvaros at Parkhead last night – the third time in just over a year the club have been knocked out of a European tournament in Glasgow.
Livid Lennon, as CQN reported earlier today, lashed his flops after the name of the Hungarians was added to the Romanians of Cluj and the Danes of FC Copenhagen of dumping his team. The Irishman claimed some of his stars have been working for six months on leaving the club.
That came as a surprise to his captain and Brown, speaking to the Daily Record, said: “For me, the lads want to be here.
“I don’t know what people have said to him individually, to be perfectly honest.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if they want to be here or not, once they go on that park everyone gives 100 per cent and that’s what the gaffer demands.
“It wasn’t the best performance. We’ve dominated the ball, but we’ve not been clinical enough in front of goal and we were a little bit sloppy with the two goals.”
Asked if he hoped any unsettled stars would approach him in his role as club captain, Brown answered: “Yeah, definitely. I hope everyone wants to be here.
“For me, it’s a fantastic club. There’s a lot of lads that love this club who want to see us winning games and have been there throughout, winning trophies, winning trebles and we know the feeling and it means so much to us.
“But for now, if people don’t want to be here it’s hard, but it’s not up to me whether they stay or not.
“That’s for the manager and the board and that’s a discussion with the players that want to be here and the players that don’t want to be here.”
A fuming Lennon had earlier said: “There are some players who may want to leave and have made inroads into that over the last six months or so.
“So, if they don’t want to be here, we have to do something about it.
“If they are making waves to leave the club they are obviously not committed. And I want players who are committed to the club.
“I’m putting it out there because it has been bugging me for a long, long time.”
Lennon will now have to pick up his players before the visit of Motherwell on Sunday with another three precious points up for grabs in the club’s quest for 10 successive titles.
It is also hoped Odsonne Edouard, who missed the Euro downfall with a thigh injury, recovers in time to lead the attack.
