On the face of it, the West Brom technical director Luke Dowling appears to be annoyed their £15m player went to Celtic to get game time and didn’t get as much as they would have liked. However, Dowling’s tirade against Neil Lennon and Celtic was over the top, so over the top, you would have thought it was by design – and maybe it was!

West Brom told the media Celtic would get nowhere near their player again with Neil Lennon in charge. Why be that specific, personal and aggressive?

It’s simple. There was a man who was a guest of Celtic’s on the final day of last season who up until this summer was a West Brom player. The player in question is Rekeem Harper – a contract rebel who has refused to sign a new deal with the Birmingham based club up until now.

Neil Lennon was spotted at the Hawthorns during West Broms failed Premier League playoff bid to run the rule over the out of contract star and he remains an option for Celtic as well as others.

It’s clear Dowling was taking a very clear and public dig at Neil Lennon, trying to portray him as a man who will not bring on young talent in a bid to get Rekeem to think about his next move in football.

Very petty and transparent from Dowling who will no doubt be laughed at for his comments.