Former Celtic defender Jackie McNamara believes that Hoops outcast Jack Hendry needs to leave the club in order to resuscitate his career.
The 24-year-old defender has barely featured for Neil Lennon’s side in the current campaign, with a meagre 11 minutes of game-time since the start of the 2019/20 season.
The Scottish Sun recently reported that Hearts were considering a January move for Hendry and McNamara thinks the defender will have to leave Celtic for the good of his career.
Speaking to Football Insider about Hendry, he said: “I think he needs to go and play, wherever that may be. He didn’t really make it at Wigan before going to Dundee, so his best spell was probably at Dundee and at that age, it’s probably important that he is playing and learning.”
The ex-Hoops man added: “People do forget if you’re not playing or if you’re injured. And he’s not played a lot of football over their last 18 months, so he needs to go and put himself out there and get noticed.”
McNamara’s advice to Hendry is well placed given how far the 24-year-old’s stock has fallen at Celtic under Lennon.
Even in a hectic campaign that has seen the Hoops play 38 matches between the start of July and end of December, the defender has only been called upon once, getting 11 minutes off the bench in a Betfred Cup tie against Partick Thistle in September when Celtic were already 5-0 to the good (as per TransferMarkt).
Not even a meaningless Europa League game against CFR Cluj last month could offer Hendry an opportunity to get minutes as he was omitted from Lennon’s squad for the tournament.
While Kristoffer Ajer and Christopher Jullien have emphatically been the first choice centre-backs this season, Jozo Simunovic’s long-term injury might have at least offered Hendry the chance to be next in line for that position.
Instead, defensive midfielder Nir Bitton has been preferred as a centre-back alternative – indeed, Hendry hasn’t even been in a matchday squad all season when the aforementioned Partick Thistle game is excluded (as per TransferMarkt).
Lennon did not utilise the 24-year-old in any of the games in which he was in charge last season, either, meaning that the defender has had just 11 minutes of competitive first team football since the end of last February. [via TransferMarkt]
As McNamara has hinted, Hendry is in danger of becoming a forgotten man if he remains a Celtic outcast and his career should benefit from moving to a club where he would at least be given opportunities to play.
Celtic fans, is McNamara right to advise Hendry to leave the club? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!
