Former Premier League star labels stint at Celtic 'Mickey Mouse' amid civil war inside Lennoxtown

Former Celtic forward Carlton Cole has lambasted his former club in a recent interview, branding them as ‘Mickey Mouse’ and blaming their medical staff for his below-par performances for the Hoops.

He claimed that Celtic’s duo of separate medical teams during his time at the club, who he said ‘couldn’t really agree’, left him being forced to ‘pick a side’. additionally, he also said he was not ‘mentally prepared for these things’.

Speaking on the Let Me Be Frank podcast on YouTube, Cole said: “From the outside at the time, Celtic looked like a massive club but when you go in and you see it, it was a little bit Mickey Mouse. It wasn't great.

“For me, the medical team was essential to keep me going and keep me fit. But there were two - it was divided. There was the old faithful, the Scottish medical team and there was the Norwegian medical team as well. They couldn't really agree, the two medical teams.

“So when you went in, you had to pick a side as a player. It was just really weird for me. That was just one of the things. But I'm not saying it was just that. But I'm just saying I was mentally prepared for these things. And it culminated into me not performing.”

During his brief stint at Celtic, Cole made four Scottish Premiership appearances, failing to score a single goal along the way. He did, however, score a goal against Stranraer in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.

Outside of Celtic Park, Cole played for clubs such as Chelsea, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa. He is perhaps best known for his time at West Ham United, for whom he made 256 appearances and scored scored 55 league goals across the Championship and the Premier League.