Strachan insists Agathe wasn't forced out

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan insists Didier Agathe would have been handed a chance to prove himself in the CIS Cup semi-final against Motherwell if he had stayed at the club.

The 30-year-old left the club by mutual consent earlier today after failing to make an impact on the first team this season under Strachan.

The wing-back was a regular under Martin O’Neill during his five seasons at Parkhead. But, after the summer arrival of Paul Telfer and the signing of Mark Wilson last month, the Frenchman was set to slip further down the pecking order.

Agathe publicly voiced his discontentment with his lack of first-team action earlier in the season. But the Celtic boss insists his sickness record was the major factor as to why he did not play the ex-Montpellier man regularly.

Strachan told BBC Scotland: "It was just a pity because, if he had been here on Monday and Tuesday, there was a good chance he would played tonight. That is how ironic the whole thing is because we tried to speak to him and say ‘Look, just hang in here because there might be a chance of getting a game soon’. That might have come tonight but he was sick on Monday and Tuesday.

"There was no problem. If you look at our medical board and you see the number of days missed, that is 80 per cent of why he did not get any games. Our chief exec showed Didier’s agent yesterday and he went ‘Oh dear’. Those were his exact words."

Agathe joined Celtic in 2000 from Hibernian, after previously playing for Raith. The former Montpellier man helped the Hoops clinch the domestic treble in his first season at the club.

Agathe scored in the Champions League qualifier against Ajax in Amsterdam in August 2001 to propel the Bhoys towards the lucrative group stages for the first time.

He went on to play for Celtic in the Uefa Cup final defeat by Porto in Seville in 2003. After the departure of O’Neill in May 2005, a groin injury hampered his hopes of impressing Strachan, but on his return to fitness, Agathe could not displace summer signing Telfer in the starting line-up.

However a possible move to Middlesbrough fell through last month after a trial period, and the player has now left the club. A Celtic spokesman said: "Didier has been a great servant to Celtic and everyone at the club wishes him all the best for the future."

Agathe made 181 appearances for Celtic, scoring 11 goals.