Tuur Dierckx, a former teammate of Boli Bolingoli has been giving his thoughts on his old mate’s situation at Celtic and believes there’s still time for the defender to turn his Celtic career around.
Tuur went through a similar experience as Boli when it comes to feeling the wratf of the media for flouting lockdown rules – the player even received a suspended sentence.
Celtic were punished by having games postponed and Boli was sent out on loan. This season the Belgian has come back into the fold and even played one game under Ange Postecoglou.
Since his one and only appearance, the defender hasn’t been seen again. Is that because Ange doesn’t;t fancy him or the manager simply doesn’t think he’s up to speed with the intensity of the game?
Either way, Dierckx believes Boli can come good:
The player told RecordSport : “I had a similar situation in Belgium so I know what it’s like and what the consequences are.
“The media were all over it and when a football or someone is known does something unacceptable then it has huge consequences.
“It does seem like they are made examples of as a warning to others.
“It was stupid. There were some people invited to my place and some turned up not invited. It really blew up in my face and it was a big story.
“The situation was difficult with covid and when a football messes up it’s a big deal. I had to accept it.
“I ended up with a one month suspended prison sentence, which isn’t nice.
“Boli has to deal with a lot too. You are an example to people but you are still a young person who makes mistakes.
“I know Boli in his heart is a good guy. He wouldn’t never do anything to hurt anyone. I have only seen him mad once or twice in more than 12 years. He always likes to laugh and have fun, but he’s is serious about football and very disciplined.
“It was a difficult time for him but I hope the new manager will allow him to make a fresh start.
“The important thing for me was my club were supportive. I wanted to do my talking with my feet and people could talk about me on the pitch rather than off it.
“I got sick of the other stuff as I’m a footballer who wants to play and Boli is the same.”
“I’ve known Boli since we were 13 years old. We both were living in Antwerp and we both moved to Brugge, which is a big step at that age.
“There are different mentalities in different regions and Brugge is very different. Boli was one of the first players from the Congo to play there so it was no so easy for him.
“He struggled off the pitch in the bigging but he was tough and he managed to grow every year. By the time we got to 17 or 18 we were in the first team, we won the cup and became champions.
“He moved to rapid Vienna and then Celtic but I knew the situation as he came back to Antwerp to train on his own, so we went running together.
“We talked about his situation a lot. He was playing, then he got injured and then he had some problems with the coach.
“He had his loan spell where he played well and said if things didn’t change then he might need to leave.
“But things have changed and I know he really likes the club and he wants to prove to everyone he is the player they signed last year.”
Left back is one of the few areas Celtic have a lot of cover for. We have Greg Taylor who is injured but then Adam Montgomery, Liam Scales and Boli.
It will be interesting to see if the Belgian gets more game time between now and the end of the year. He’s not everyone’s cup of tea and many Celtic fans just can’t forgive him for the self sabotage last term.
