Albian Ajeti accepts responsibility for his part in Celtic's feeble title challenge

There has been no end of debate about accountability for Celtic’s desperate failure this season to mount a challenge for a 10th straight title.

Albian Ajeti take the knee to support the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement before Wednesday's 4-0 win over St Mirren in Paisley. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Albian Ajeti doesn’t shirk his part in the fact it is only now, when too late to impact on a championship Rangers have in their grasp, that Neil Lennon’s men are putting together some decent league form.

There were high expectations of the Swiss striker when he was recruited last August from West Ham in a £4.5m deal. The same was true of £4.5m goalkeeping signing Vasilis Barkas, expensive Brighton loan recruit Shane Duffy and David Turnbull, acquired from Motherwell for £3.5m. Only the former Fir Park midfielder has been an unqualified success, as Celtic’s transfer activity in the summer has been blamed for their dramatic slump.

Ajeti appears to be coming good now in tandem with Odsonne Edouard as the first forward line Lennon envisaged propelling his side for a monumental season. Their three Premiership starts together have coincided with three wins in which 10 goals have been bagged - Celtic heading to Perth for Sunday’s encounter with St Johnstone on the back of a 4-0 midweek success away to St Mirren. The problem is their total number of league starts together only numbers four - their other outing the 5-0 win away to Ross County last September.

Asked if he was willing to take responsibility for Celtic so often coming up short in the championship, the 23-year-old did not dodge the issue. “I am happy to take the responsibility, of course. But there are things you can’t control, like injuries,” said Ajeti, any blame harsh considering he lost almost three months of the campaign to fitness problems.

“This is football and you have to accept it. I wish I didn’t have any injuries this season but it was out of my control. Things happen and you have to take something out of it and keep working hard to help the team. There is a lot more to come from me. I know myself, I know what I can do. If I keep playing then I know I can help the team a lot.

"I’ve come back and have played some games, we are winning again, so I am feeling good. I want to keep it going for me personally and for the team. There wasn’t a problem with my confidence. The most important goal was to try to get fit and healthy. Everything will be good when I am fully match fit. There was some criticism, but it is what it is. If I get criticism then I accept it. I am fighting fit now and there are a lot of games to go and I am looking forward to them.”

It remains the case that Ajeti has played only one full league 90 minutes in Celtic colours. He has no regrets over swapping West Ham, where he featured even more infrequently, for Glasgow in the midst of the Covid-19 global pandemic. “No. Why should I? This was the best decision I could have made in the last season,” he said. “It’s not easy making a move like this. It’s not just me, football is going on with this pandemic and I’m sure a lot of people think it’s not easy.”

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