“I genuinely, honestly, don’t know that.” – Does the Celtic boss really expect us to believe he had no idea Australian ‘keeper Sonny Inzalaco was training with us?

I find it hard to believe that Martin O’Neill really doesn’t know we had an Australian goalkeeper training with us.

I know he’s never been shy of batting away a question he doesn’t fancy.

But he can’t seriously expect us to believe he’s that daft?

Let’s start with what actually happened, as reported by the Glasgow Times.

An unfamiliar goalkeeper was pictured training at Lennoxtown on Friday.

Reports have since identified him as Sonny Inzalaco, a 19-year-old Australian.

He was working under Stevie Woods, and it was a photo that prompted the questions.

So when O’Neill was asked about him ahead of the trip to Motherwell, you would have thought it was a simple one to answer.

Here is what he said:

“I genuinely, honestly, don’t know that.

You mean maybe a young keeper? When I go out here and see four or five goalkeepers, sometimes Stevie Woods has brought up some young lad. It doesn’t mean that he hasn’t maybe brought somebody in. It could be a young Australian fella.

But somebody to contest being in the first team, no, no.”

Read that again.

“I genuinely, honestly, don’t know that.”

Two adverbs, in case the first one didn’t convince us.

Four or five goalkeepers, and the manager can’t tell you who any of them are

Now, I’ll be fair to him on one point.

Nobody is saying the manager needs to know the name of every teenager who gets a loan of a pair of gloves for the day.

Clubs do bring in young lads for a look, and it happens everywhere.

And, as it turns out, Inzalaco isn’t some random kid off the street.

He’s a Perth RedStar prospect and an Australian youth international.

He spent last season in Australia’s second tier, and Blackburn Rovers and Wrexham have both been linked with him in the past.

That’s not a lad Stevie Woods found kicking a ball in Springburn Park.

I’d be surprised if nobody at Celtic knew who he was, where he came from and why he was here.

So are we really expected to believe that O’Neill doesn’t discuss his goalkeeping options with the goalkeeping coach?

By his own words, he sees four or five goalkeepers when he goes out.

He watches them.

Surely he speaks to Woods?

And yet a new face appears in the middle of that group, and the manager’s answer is that he sees “four or five” goalkeepers and sometimes Stevie brings up a young lad?

Aye, right.

Inzalaco was at Lennoxtown for a reason, and I’d be amazed if O’Neill didn’t know it

Notice the language he used, too.

“It doesn’t mean that he hasn’t maybe brought somebody in.”

“It could be a young Australian fella.”

That sounds like a man who has a fair idea.

And has decided the best thing to do is give an answer that says nothing at all.

Which is something we’ve become very used to at Celtic.

Then there’s the line at the end.

“But somebody to contest being in the first team, no, no.”

As far as I can see, nobody asked him that.

The question was about the lad, not whether he’s about to take the number one jersey.

It’s a classic case of answering the question you wish you’d been asked.

Of course, Inzalaco might well be a trial for the future, or a lad Woods wanted to have a look at, or just a bit of cover for the week.

That would be perfectly normal, and I wouldn’t lose a minute’s sleep over it.

But if that’s all it is, why not just say so?

Why the “I genuinely, honestly” routine?

You don’t usually lay it on that thick about something that doesn’t matter.

Whatever the reason, the support deserves a straight answer

Let me be clear about what annoys me here.

It isn’t the goalkeeper.

I couldn’t tell you whether Inzalaco is the next big thing or a lad who’ll be back in Perth by Christmas.

It’s the insult to our intelligence.

We’re a club that’s grown used to being told one thing while watching another happen.

It’s why a vague answer like this lands so badly with the support.

So, when the manager of Celtic Football Club stands up in front of the press and says he doesn’t know who is training at his own club’s training centre, you’ll forgive us for raising an eyebrow.

Either he doesn’t know, in which case that’s a worry.

Or he does know and he’s chosen not to tell us, in which case that’s a bigger one.

And I know which of the two I think it is.

Make no mistake, it’s not the first.

Maybe I’m wrong, and who knows?

Maybe the old boy was genuinely caught on the hop.

But I doubt it.

He’s been around football a long time, and he’s not a man I’d expect to get caught on the hop about who is in his own building.

So, Martin, here’s an idea.

If there’s a young Australian goalkeeper at Lennoxtown for a reason, just tell us the reason.

We can take it.

Honestly… or should that be genuinely?

Choose Read Celtic as a ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the news you value.