CHARLIE MULGREW has spoken publicly for the first time of his distress at the abuse he suffered from Celtic supporters after walking off the pitch during a game at Parkhead.
Mulgrew suffered a recurrence of the quad injury which he had been sidelined with for over two months with during the Europa League match against Ajax in November.
The defender, making his competitive comeback, was devastated by the setback and left the field with three minutes remaining in a fixture which his team lost 2-1, but Vaclav Cerny had just scored what turned out to be the winning goal for visitors and the Scotland internationalist was heavily criticised by fans for letting the team down.
“People think I just ran off the pitch,” said Mulgrew. “Some of the comments people wrote to me on social media made out as if it was my ball, I took the huff and ran off the park with it the way you did when you played as a wee boy in the streets.
“I knew I had sustained the same injury which had kept me out a while after Aberdeen.
“When I had the original injury against Aberdeen at Pittodrie, it went when there were three minutes left and we were 2-1 down. I couldn’t go off the park that day. Not when we were behind. I had no idea how severe it was, I just kept playing.
“In those last few minutes, I obviously made the problem worse. That added six to eight weeks onto what it might have been had I just come off, but nobody remembers you for staying on that extra three minutes. If you walk off, you are the worst guy in the world.
“When it came to the Ajax game, I knew right away it had gone again. I said to Scotty Allan: ‘You need to sit in here. I’ve done it again.’
“To my mind, it was better for me and better for the team if I had it treated and got back quicker.
Read more: Charlie Mulgrew - Winning the league won't make up for losing to Rangers
“I got a hard time on Instagram. I didn’t see it coming. When I left the game, my mind was on the injury. As I was icing my leg, I clicked my phone on and Instagram just lit up.
“Supporters were writing to me accusing me of stuff and I couldn’t believe it.
“I was trying to do the right thing, but some people didn’t have a clue. They thought I had taken the huff because we are 2-1 down and thought ‘f*** this, I’m off.’
"It is unbelievable to you that people actually think you would do that. I suppose that’s how the world is now.”
Meanwhile, Mulgrew, whose contract with Celtic expired yesterday, has confirmed he will hold talks with new manager Brendan Rodgers when he returns from international duty.
“I’ve spoken to the manager and arranged to meet him so I hope we can get something done,” he said.
Read more: How Charlie Mulgrew became Scotland's go-to man
Meanwhile, Swindon Town have expressed a desire to develop a relationship with Celtic based around taking players on loan.
During his time in charge at Liverpool, Rodgers sent Brad Smith, Lawrence Vigouroux, Kevin Stewart and Jordan Williams there on short-term deals. His son, Anton, also plays for the club.
“I think that he would probably feel confident sending players to Swindon," said Luke Williams, the League One club's manager. "I am sure there are some top players that would thrive."
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