I felt betrayed by Celtic and wasted a year of my career after board ignored transfer bids

Daily Record

20 hours ago

The former Hoops ace was unhappy that the Parkhead board refused to sanction two moves
Former Celtic keeper Benjamin Siegrist claims he felt BETRAYED by the club after wasting a year of his career in the stands.
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The Swiss shotstopper was signed by Ange Postecoglou in 2022 from Dundee United to serve as a deputy for No1 Joe Hart.
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He made only a couple of appearances for the Hoops in his debut season before being demoted to third choice under Brendan Rodgers.
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Siegrist held a heart-to-heart with Rodgers in the Irishman's first summer back at Parkhead and was told he was free to find another club.
He told the Bondi Podcast: "I just wanted to have a chat with the manager, obviously Joe's going to be playing and he said, 'Yeah you're not really for me.'
"He said, 'You've not been able to adapt to the system well enough to play,' and I said 'Yeah, fair enough, I understand, I feel it.'
"It's hard to do when you never play and in training Joe would get all the reps and I'm like, 'how can I get better if I don't really get the reps?'
"I was like 'No problem, this is how football works.' I said 'Can I sort myself out?' He said, 'Yeah, speak to your agent and see what we can do.'"
But the 33-year-old claims he was given mixed messages after the club's hierarchy blocked a quick-fire exit - freezing him out of the game until January.
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He said: "I had an offer from a team that I was willing to go to. They [Celtic] said yes, initially, then they changed their mind.
"Now I was stuck with the transfer window shutting, and again, a lot of people don't get this - they never see me again because I'm not in match day squads because I've been demoted to number three.
"It's my job, I'm not complaining, but I felt like I needed to play to get my confidence back.
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"It was a team that was playing European football at the time, it was a yes, then the next day it was no, this doesn't work, that doesn't work.
"As a player, you're not wanted by the manager, another team wants you, you can go on loan and you've been told to sit as a number three when you could be playing Europa League.
"I said it's not ideal but I have a job, I'm employed, I'm going to do my number three role until January and then try again."
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Siegrist refused to throw his toys out of the pram and decided to bide his time until the winter window reopened.
However, the giant keeper was left frustrated again when the club refused to sanction his exit and, he claims, ignored loan offers from a European team.
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Siegirst says he had cleared his locker and was ready to join the unnamed club before the move collapsed due to Celtic's lack of communication.
He said: "In January, exactly the same scenario. I had another team going for a league in another country - a top division - playing European football.
"I was on holiday, actually, everything was agreed and then I found out that Celtic just hadn't responded to that team in four weeks.
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"I spoke to Stevie (Woods) and he said, 'Yeah I think in January you can go.' It always felt like a win-win to everyone. I was still under contract, if they wanted to sell me I'd have higher re-sale value.
"I spoke to the new team, the sporting director, the goalie coach, it was a done deal. I was ready to pack up.
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"I went on holiday because it's the last season we had a winter break and spoke to my agent and said I hadn't heard anything.
"Some people on the Celtic board just didn't respond to enquiries from the other team. Why not? It's a good question.
"Ultimately, Celtic did what was best for them; they needed three keepers at base.
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"It's not that I wanted to leave Celtic because it's a bad club - I wanted to prove myself and find a loan.
"When you go into the office and speak to the manager - there was no problem between me and Brendan Rodgers - it was always respectful.
"But there were things going on internally that the message I was getting from the manager was not the same as the board.
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"That was really frustrating because ultimately all I wanted to do was play and I was denied that opportunity twice."
Siegrist also felt he was being unfairly painted in a bad picture, with fans unaware of his own challenging circumstances.
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He said: "It just felt like a lost year because as a number three, you're just training. Fans are saying 'What's he doing,? He's not good enough.'
"I'm training as much, even more than the other ones, now I'm getting painted in a bad light.
"I'm in a tricky situation where some of the fans don't like you because they think you're a waste of space, when all I wanted was an opportunity to play so I looked for an outside opportunity.
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"Half the fans think you're good, half think you're a waste of space and your career is on hold - it's really mentally a difficult space to be.
"The hope of playing European football was there and you have to give your list for Champions League football.
"We had a lot of transfers and it just wasn't right the way it was handled.
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"I was denied to go on loan with the reasoning being we need you for Champions League, you have to have three goalkeepers for Champions League.
"When the Champions League list came out they said we can't take you in as we have too many foreigners.
"It felt like a kick in the teeth and I felt a little bit betrayed by that.
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"But I did my best. I also have an obligation to my teammates to be the best version of myself in training and I was still celebrating the success with them.
"You can't be a bad egg, I just don't believe in it. I tried to be the best professional I could be.
"Your teammates always understand. But the board didn't understand that.
"It's an absolute privilege to play for Celtic but when you have the chance to play somewhere else and accelerate your career and get confidence back, that wasn't really something on their mind."
Siegirst was eventually allowed to quit Glasgow last summer as he linked up with Neil Lennon at Romanian club Rapid Bucharest. He's now on the books of Serie A side Genoa.