Last weekend, Celtic had several loan players in actions for their sides (seven in total). Many Celts go out on loan for many different reasons. From youngsters looking for first-team experience like Ross Doohan to senior players who will find game time hard to come by in Scotland, such as Boli Bolingoli. I thought I would take a look back at how these boys faired.
Lee O’Connor
Many will remember, Lee O’Connor was signed last season on deadline day of the summer window with somewhat of a reputation coming from Manchester United. So far though, he has failed to breakthrough and is now on his second loan spell with Tranmere Rovers in English League Two.
The young right-back was in action for them this weekend, playing the entire game as Rovers fell to a 1-0 defeat, after going down to 10-men against Newport County.
Scott Robertson
Robertson is arguably the most exciting player out on loan at the moment. Making his debut last season in the Europa League and featuring for the first-team in pre-season, he has shown great promise.
Currently, he is out on loan at English League One side Gillingham and has shined so far. At the weekend, he made his return from injury after a three-game absence. On the day he managing 67 minutes in the game before being subbed and also received a yellow card. Unfortunately, though, he was on the losing side as the Gills fell to a 2-0 defeat to MK Dons.
Ross Doohan
The young goalkeeper made just his first start for fellow Scottish Premiership side Ross County at the weekend, after failing to dispossess current number one at the Staggie, Ross Laidlaw.
Doohan certainly looks to have grasped his chance in net though after keeping a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw in Dingwall at the weekend against an on-form Hibernian side. Hopefully, this is only the beginning for the young Celtic keeper this season and we get to see more of what he is capable of
Kerr McInroy
Celtic fans also got a short glimpse of Celtic reserve team captain, Kerr McInroy in pre-season, in a more unnatural position for the midfielder at left-back. So getting him out on loan was a smart move and to a side like Dunfermline who look as though they will be towards the top end of the Championship, it could have a massive impact on McInory early in his career.
The Pars managed to pick up their first three points of the season in the opening game against Inverness Caley, winning 3-1. The 20-year old only played a short part in the victory though, coming on as a late sub to see out the game, featuring for final 12 minutes.
Boli Bolingoli
Bolingoli left in a controversial manner, after his incident in the summer which saw two Celtic games postponed and still to catch up. The Belgian left-back did get himself some move out on loan when it comes to the competitions his new side Istanbul Basaksehir will be playing in this season, such as the Champions League
After joining over a month ago, Bolingoli only made his first start at the weekend. It hasn’t been the best of starts for the current Turkish Champions. On Saturday though, they were able to pick up their first three points of the season and score their first goals in a 2-0 victory over Trabzonspor, with the left-back playing 90 minutes.
Marian Shved
Shved is another strange one, in both his action for Celtic and new loan club KV Mechelen in Belgium. So far he has barely featured and if he does it is usually off the bench
That was the same case for the Ukrainian winger on Saturday as he came on with seven minutes left to play but unfortunately couldn’t have an impact as his side lost out 2-1 to Kortijk.
Vakoun Bayo
The Ivorian striker has so far made a decent start to life in France and Ligue 2, even if his side Toulouse haven’t been at their best.
They continued their rise up the league table though with a late 1-0 win over AC Ajaccio. Bayo played 63 minutes but was subbed off after putting in a tough shift, as Toulouse also went down to 10-men in the opening stages of the match.
