STEFAN JOHANSEN has admitted there are no excuses for his dreadful form after being awarded a humiliating one out of ten for his performance with Norway.

The troubled Celtic playmaker, the current Player of the Year, has hardly managed to play a single decent game this season after the best campaign of his career in which he starred for club and country.

After Norway lost to Hungary in their European Champions play-off, Johansen was made a scapegoat by the Norwegian newspapers, with one awarding him a rating of one, with three the highest mark he achieved.

Johansen is as puzzled and frustrated as anyone as to why his form has deteriorated so dramatically and did not try to hide from the fact his football has not been good enough for months.

But he does now know why things have gone so badly.

 

Johansen, 24, said: “I can’t blame injuries alone for my poor form this season. I’m not the type of guy who would use that as an excuse.

"But I’ll be honest and say I haven’t been playing to the standard that is required

“When the results are bad you will face criticism from fans and the media, but the criticism doesn’t bother me too much. It’s a part of the game

“The people around me – family and friends – are more worried about it. They fear I might take it personally, but I don’t."

Norway expected to see off Hungary, but were beaten 3-1 over two matches and never looked as if they would make the finals in France next summer.

Johansen, a key man in his country's campaign up until then, was forced to say sorry for two below-par performances.

The Celtic man said: "We have to take this one on the chin. We can only apologise to the Norwegian people.

"We take full responsibility for these results, but our coach, Per-Mathias Hogmo, should stay in the job.

“Even though fans in Norway are disappointed now, he has the backing of the players. He can’t go on the pitch and do the running.

"The players, myself included, have to take the responsibility. We cannot blame the coach for these defeats.”

Johansen scored 13 goals for Celtic last season as his fellow pros made him Player of the Year.

But he has come nowhere near those heights this campaign.

His cause was not helped at the start of the season when he played on with a back injury.