Celtic’s Marian Shved is having a torrid time on loan at KV Mechelen. Signing for Neil Lennon’s side in 2019, the 23-year-old was initially sent back on loan to FC Karpaty Lviv before going to Belgium for the current season.
It sounds very much like Mechelen will be sending the player straight back into Lennon’s arms, because he’s not been the recruit they hoped for. Whilst there’s little doubt about the Celtic player’s talent, there’s huge concerns over the attitude he’s shown since arriving.
Mechelen’s manager Wouter Vrancken has taken the unusual step of speaking to the media to explain the problems the club have had with Shved since he arrived from Celtic.
Quoted by HLN, Vrancken said: “The players and staff do everything they can to include Shved in the story. But he puts himself above the group. He regularly arrives late and pretends not to be here. The staff and the players have talked to him several times. I spoke to him in private, I also addressed him in the group.
“Then if you don’t even get a response… Well, it stops. If you want to be a loner, you can. But then go play billiards or something. Then you don’t belong in this team, where everyone goes through the fire for each other. He is introverted. And his arrogance makes it worse.”
Vrancken also suggested it could be something which hampers the player throughout his career, and that will undoubtedly worry those in charge at Celtic: “There are many players who, despite their qualities, do not get the most out of their career. Well, this threatens to become such a story too. If he can make it click in his head, so much the better and then we have a high-quality player. If that click does not come, I cannot accept that he puts himself above the group.”
It wasn’t only the Belgium club’s manager who spoke to the media about Shved, with a teammate, who did not want to be named, also speaking out: “Marian is a timid guy. He is strong in a one-on-one situation and a good finisher. Someone with many qualities. But he has an incredibly bad attitude. I can understand that the trainer is not satisfied.”
Mechelen will now evaluate the situation during their winter break, and it sounds very much like they’d want to send the player back to Celtic.
