Henderson has always shown well imho and for the life of me I find it hard to believe that Ange has no place for him going forward what with his youth philosophy, all I can think of for the reasoning behind this move is that Ange has been quoted as saying that he wants to streamline the squad. This is something that I wholeheartedly agree with him on however I was more inclined to believe that he was meaning the squad was/is bloated with players not up to Celtic standards nor Ange standards either, mainly the likes if Soro, Barkas, Bain, Bolingoli, Ajeti and sadly Griffiths as well. Personally I'd rather have seen Griffiths go to hibs with option to buy £1.5 million , Griffiths may be in a bad place right now that's plain to see for all however he has just entered his peak years and has as we all know very well the ability to be that player again. Its more a question of does he still have the belief in himself and the commitment to get back to that level. Right now it appears he does not and may not even have an interest in continuing as a professional footballer and that's infuriating for us supporters who have seen what he can do. Again imo I believe that we are making a mistake in letting go of Henderson so easily and for what? Not enough would be my guess. A lot of talk and speculation surrounds our youth players about just how good they are, I think they answered that question when an almost Celtic B side defeated la ligas ( 3rd at the time) Real Betis. I'm no fool and I'm no Ange Postecoglou but I'm certainly of the belief that if we are streamlining the squad or heading in that direction then shouldnt those whove had their chances be first out the door if possible? We know Henderson can play and we know this from seeing not a great deal. Loan him out yes of course I'm for that but these loans have to be with an eye on hoping the player improves enough to force his way into the squad. I couldnt see Ryan Christie make it into the side and our captain was sent out to notts county. I understand both sides of the debate here but I do not understand why the club would do this as recently as we have after what happened with Hendry HH
Admire your passion winter towards griff and Henderson, but sadly feel that passion has over ruled sence upon this particular issue.
The issue in hand, as BB pointed out is about weather each of them are worthy of receiving a new contract come the summer?
Sorry but I couldn't make a case for either to say that they are, and quite clearly now both are not in the future plans of Ange and the team.
Griff was given the opportunity at the start of the season, yet fucked it up yet again and say he wouldn't be welcome back by the majority of the support now, especially when we have currently much more that offer far more, and you just can't trust griff whatsoever these days, so right decision imo.
As for Henderson, he has become yet another victim of what is still in play within Scottish football with still no development programme as such. We still have no idea upon which is Henderson strongest position yet, but credit needs to be given to him with the amount of versatility he has shown in his very brief appearances to date.
As a guess upon what I've seen, I would say midfield is possibly where he is best suited, yet if Ange sticks with his preferred 3 in midfield, then Henderson hasn't shown he is capable of ever fulfilling such a role in any of the 3 positions still imo.
Even if Ange was to potentially switch to a 3 at the back, and use either, wing backs, midfielders or wingers as his wider men in a 4 man midfield as such, again I don't see a position for Henderson with the competition and quality ahead of him still.
So as this issue is about a renewal of a contract, then I have to agree that the club have made the right decision as currently Henderson is may be only a 4th choice at best for any given position.
The club can't and shouldn't be wasting the level of money it currently does on wages when nothing is currently on offer for any form of return upon them wages still within Scotland.
Looks to be a potential ongoing problem until it gets addressed, and yet we don't get the support within Scotland to gain the simple solution of running a 2nd team in the lower divisions to give the youngsters a fairer opportunity to succeed within the club with there development.
Also looks like the dead wood will also run down there current contracts also with us still possibly paying them way to much still than anybody else would be prepared to pay them, but also a result of the dumb and dumber era that is going to take time to resolve also.
This rebuild was always going to have to address the issues of so much wasted money upon wages still and imo this is only the start of that issue being addressed and sadly there are going to be far more casualties along the way, but I'll put that more so down to what lenny and PL created and left Ange and Nicholson to sort out still.