Former Celtic striker Carlton Cole has openly criticised the Scottish champions during a recent interview, using the term ‘Mickey Mouse’ to describe the club.
Cole, who had a far from memorable eight-month stint with the Hoops during the 2015-16 season, attributed his underwhelming performances while at Celtic Park to what he perceives as inadequacies within the club's medical staff.
The 40-year-old's comments shed light on the challenges he faced throughout his time with the Glasgow giants.
Cole expressed frustration over the treatment and support he received, suggesting that the "divided" medical team failed to provide the necessary care that could have enhanced his contributions on the pitch.
Speaking on the Let Me Be Frank Podcast, the ex-England international explained the situation and said: “From the outside at the time, Celtic looked like a massive club but when you go in and you see it, it was a little bit Mickey Mouse. It wasn't great.
“For me, the medical team was essential to keep me going and keep me fit. But there were two - it was divided. There was the old faithful, the Scottish medical team and there was the Norwegian medical team as well. They couldn't really agree, the two medical teams.
“So when you went in, you had to pick a side as a player. It was just really weird for me. That was just one of the things. But I'm not saying it was just that.
"I'm just saying I wasn't mentally prepared for these things. And it culminated into me not performing.”
Cole also discussed the fall-out since Celtic's recent 7-1 UEFA Champions League defeat against Borussia Dortmund.
"You've got to understand that's the trend for manager's nowadays," the forward said of Brendan Rodgers insisting that he won't pivot away from his principles.
"For me, I don't agree with it. I think what you've got to look at is having a plan B and a plan C. You can have your plan A but the problem is how you get the boys to buy into the plan B.
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"The plan B can be anything, try a long ball, hit the channels, just having something different to what you've been doing.
"Where do the team get the chance to try the plan B? I think it should be deployed at some point in the season where you feed it into the lads, so they understand both ways of playing.
"And if you are really good at management and tactics you can have a plan C up your sleeve.
"I'm not saying plan A doesn't work, sometimes it will work, but in the game, you've got to have a different approach when it's not working.
"If you’re a centre-half and you've been playing a certain way, and winning games like this. Then all of a sudden you come up against a team in Europe that are a class above, and you and the manager are looking at them thinking 'you know what, the way we play, with all due respect, this is not going to work against this opposition'.
"The players have to buy into what the manager is saying, the players are always going to reply 'yeah, I can do it, no problem.
"But the manager should try ease them and say 'you are good, but you are not that good'."
