Commons believes beating his own 15-goal tally is only issue

KRIS Commons has moved from being a player to an issue as his injury disappearances from a team he lit up in the second half of last season have brought all sorts of smoke without the fire.

The attacker made his first senior appearance in six weeks as a second-half substitute in the win over Dundee United and laughed off the rumour-mongering about fall-outs and fisticuffs with his manager Neil Lennon “as pure comedy gold”.

Linked with a move away from a club he joined from Derby County last January, Commons stated flatly “of course, 100 per cent” when asked if he wanted to remain with Celtic. That will please the keyboard warriors, the internet awash with stories about the player being unsettled.

“Perhaps they should be on Discovery … conspiracies,” he said. “I don’t know where it all comes from but that’s like a page closed for me. The rumour went around, I took the mickey out of it [by wearing bandages] and I don’t read to much into it, and neither should you.

“It was probably two drunken guys on the booze thinking ‘that might have happened’.”

Commons said he has unfinished business in Glasgow, having come to Scotland to win trophies, plural, and play in the “big games” against Rangers and in Europe. He was Celtic’s biggest player in netting 15 goals in the second half of last season. It created for him an instant reputation that may been weighing heavily on him.

“Now it’s time to try and emulate that. But if I start getting carried away thinking I’m going to start playing every week and scoring goals every week then I’ll go back to where I was. I say I need to start off by putting one foot in front of the other, working hard in training and then hope that things will turn for me.”

Commons is one of Gary Hooper’s closest friends in the Celtic squad. He is keen also to remain his work colleague, with Southampton currently pursuing the club’s top scorer. A situation the well-travelled Commons knows isn’t easy to be at centre of.

“It’s just unsettling. I’ve had a few moves myself and it’s all you seem to think about,” he said. “You never know if you’re future’s going to be here or away. You never know if the club’s going to accept an offer. It’s the uncertainty of the transfer window and not an enjoyable time. It’s not for me to say what Gary’s worth or what the club’s holding out for. That’s for them to decide, and I’m sure they will do their utmost and damnedest to keep Gary at this club.

“He’s a massive, massive player for us and his scoring record speaks for itself. I hope I can still be playing with him in February.”