Mulgrew: Why I walked off against Ajax

Charlie Mulgrew admitted that he was close to tears following his injury against Ajax last November and explained further why he walked off.

After 22 minutes into his first game in three months, Charlie Mulgrew walked down the tunnel with yet another injury in the Europa League.

The 29-year-old’s decision to leave the field of play at Paradise following the second goal stunned many fans watching the game as he took to Instagram  to clarify why he left the field of play, but many still criticised him.

Speaking ahead of Scotland’s friendly against France, Mulgrew spoke further about his decision to walk off the field.

As quoted by the Glasgow Evening Times, he said:

People think I just ran off the pitch. Some of the comments people wrote to me on social media made out as if it was my ball, I took the huff and ran off the park with it the way you did when you played as a wee boy in the streets.

I knew I had sustained the same injury which had kept me out a while after Aberdeen. I knew what had happened.

When I had the original injury against Aberdeen at Pittodrie it went when there were three minutes left and we were 2-1 down. I couldn’t go off the park that day. Not when we were behind. I had no idea how severe it was, I just kept playing.

As Celtic chased the game against Aberdeen in September, Mulgrew stayed on the field as the Hoops looked for an equaliser to remain level on points with the Dons – a decision he would later regret.

I had to play a few long balls because we were chasing an equaliser and I think I had a couple of sprints as well. So in that last few minutes I’ve obviously made the problem worse. That added six to eight weeks onto what it might have been had I just came off that night.

But nobody remembers you for staying on that extra three minutes and if you walk off you are the worst guy in the world.

So when it came to the Ajax game I went on as a sub and knew right away it had gone again. I said to Scotty Allan ‘you need to sit in here. I’ve done it again.’

I thought back to the Aberdeen experience and thought ‘no, I need to go off this time’. To my mind it was better for me and better for the team if I had it treated and got back quicker. I could have stayed on, made it worse and been out even longer.

It was the same thigh injury which kept him out of action for six months the previous season, and led to the emergence or Nir Bitton as a mainstay midfielder for Celtic.

Mulgrew returned to the starting line-up following the injuries to summer signings Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata, as the Scot played a key role in Celtic’s quest for a fifth successive league title in the heart of the defence alongside Erik Sviatchenko.

Celtic’s new manager Brendan Rodgers will now sit down and discuss the possibility of the utility man getting a new contract, as his current one expires at the end of this month.