Current Cardiff City star Lee Tomlin once ‘smashed something’ in the manager’s office when he was not allowed a move to Celtic.
Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson was recently talking to Peterborough Telegraph and revealed more details about the incident involving Tomlin and his failed move to Parkhead.
Ferguson revealed that Tomlin knew that Celtic had made a bid for him back in 2013 and he ‘demanded to leave’ Peterborough. On being told that Celtic had only ‘bid buttons’ for him, Tomlin ‘smashed something’ in Ferguson’s office and even called him a ‘disgrace’.
Here’s what Ferguson had to say about how Tomlin had reacted: “They’d made a bid for him and he knew it. The players usually reported for work two hours before a game, but Lee was at the ground early and came over to see me in the gym and demanded to leave.
Would you like Tomlin at Parkhead now?
Yes, he's a quality player
No, that ship has sailed
“I said he couldn’t as Celtic had only bid buttons. He wasn’t happy but said he was okay to play that afternoon. He wasn’t so I took him off at half-time and we lost. Lee then came to see me in my office and I repeated he couldn’t leave as Celtic’s bid hadn’t been accepted.
“He didn’t take this well. He smashed something in my office, slammed a few doors and stormed out saying I was a disgrace and he would never play for me again! An hour later he rang me to apologise which was typical of him.
“Celtic behaved badly back then. For a club of their size to keep making bids while we were playing a game was poor.”
Tomlin, who is currently valued at £1.44m, left the Posh for Middlesbrough in the summer of 2014 and he even went on to have a spell with Bournemouth (as per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts…
Ferguson’s comments show that Tomlin was desperate for a Parkhead move. In the 2012/13 season, he had directly contributed to as many as 20 goals in 42 Championship appearances for Peterborough (as per Transfermarkt).
This shows that he was a quality player at that point and could have added some goals to the Celtic attack as well. He was active in front of goal for Cardiff in the 2019/20 Championship season as well. It shows that he still has a lot of ability in him and if the Hoops had signed him back then, they could have got a pretty reliable player for the long-term.