Kasper Schmeichel has opened up on a difficult end to his time at Celtic, admitting he has leaned on both praise and criticism from the stands during a challenging season.
The goalkeeper is expected to leave Parkhead when his contract expires this month, bringing a short and turbulent spell in Glasgow to a close.
Injuries have played a major role in that, with the Dane revealing back in March that he could face up to a year on the sidelines after suffering a torn bicep, a torn rotator cuff, a dislocated shoulder and a torn labrum.
He has already undergone one operation, but more are on the way — and there’s a growing sense that he may already have played his final game for the club.
“The status at the moment is I’ve had one surgery, which was an exploratory surgery and a clean-up surgery,” Schmeichel said.
“The status is there is a lot of damage in there, a lot of infection, and I am going to need another one or two, maybe three surgeries.
“Yeah, it’s a strange reality at the moment and it has been a strange couple of months trying to wrap my head around it.”
On the pitch, things didn’t go the way he would have hoped. A series of unconvincing performances led to criticism from sections of the support, most notably during the heavy defeat to Stuttgart, where frustration inside the stadium was clear.
Viljami Sinisalo has since stepped in and made the position his own, becoming Martin O’Neill’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Despite that, Schmeichel has remained around the squad at Lennoxtown as he begins his recovery — and as he reflects on his time at the club, he hasn’t shied away from the emotional side of it all.
“I am a sensitive guy. I hear a lot of stuff and I feed off that energy, no question – both positive and negative. But the energy the fans can bring is so important.
“When you play at Celtic Park and they are with you, you are unstoppable. You stand in that goal and you feel the atmosphere, you feel the drive.
“I’d hate to be an opposition player there because that is the ultimate weapon Celtic have – that unity and that support. When all that is buzzing, you have won before you go on the pitch, practically. But that is what Celtic is.”
It’s a fitting way to sign off — acknowledging both the pressure and the power of playing in front of a crowd like Celtic’s.