'Hold on a minute' - Ex-Hearts star pulls up Celtic chief Peter Lawwell over 'poor' statement

Former Hearts ace Neil McCann has hit out at Peter Lawwell's Celtic statement. Picture: SNS

The Parkhead chief executive addressed fans via an in-house video with the club’s media team where he apologised for the trip to Dubai.

Celtic’s decision to travel to the UAE for a mid-season training camp has been condemned around football and by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Manager Neil Lennon, captain Scott Brown and coach Gavin Strachan have all defended the trip despite the criticism.

Lawwell, “on reflection”, admitted it was a “mistake”.

Yet, it was a comment regarding the impact of the coronavirus which raised eyebrows and brought more further attention to the statement.

"This horrific pandemic has affected the whole of society, it has affected our people here in Scotland, and it's affected our supporters, football and our club; probably our club more than any,” Lawwell claimed.

‘Stick in the throats’

Peter Lawwell apologised to Celtic fans for the club's trip to Dubai. Picture: SNS

McCann, a 1998 Scottish Cup winner with Hearts, questioned the assertion made by the Celtic chief, saying it will “stick in the throats" of many and noting the different clubs who have been impacted severely.

Hearts and Partick Thistle were both demoted, while Falkirk missed out on promotion from League One by 0.03 points per game. The latter two clubs are now on a break from playing with all football below the Scottish Championship postponed until the end of January at the earliest.

"I think the statement within the statement that will stick in the throats of a lot of people in football is about Celtic being the worst hit here,” McCann told BBC.

"I'm pretty sure Ann Budge and all the Hearts fans will be on the posts tonight to say: 'Hold on a minute, we lost a place in the Premiership here!'

"You mentioned Falkirk earlier on, along with Partick Thistle.

"That statement, I thought, was poor. I didn't think that was merited.

"But maybe Peter just started going down the road of talking about the work they've done in the community. Nobody is denying that, whatsoever.

"I don't think that's got anything to do with what they're being accused of here, which is a wee bit of arrogance from the fans and ignorance of where we are within the pandemic."