So far this campaign, the first-team left-back slot has been held by Scotland internationalist Greg Taylor. At times, young academy graduate Adam Montgomery would be the other option to swap in and out of the side.
Of course, last weekend against Ross County, Taylor picked up another shoulder injury, which will keep him out on the sidelines for a spell.
Many expected that Montgomery would be the favourite to fill in, with either Liam Scales or even Josip Juranovic fighting out for the position. So it left supporters surprised to see the inclusion of Boli Bolingoli away to Livingston on Sunday.
The Belgian hadn’t played any competitive minutes under Postecoglou but was brought in at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
Speaking to Celtic TV ahead of tomorrow nights Premier Sports cup tie against Raith Rovers, Postecoglou explained the reasoning behind bringing Bolingoli back into the fold and where his future might be as a first-team option.
“In terms of his future, I don’t know why he’s different from anyone else here. He’s part of the squad and part of the playing group, and that’s why he was selected at the weekend.
“I haven’t decided on the starting XI for tomorrow because obviously, we’ve just finished training. I want to see how everyone pulls up after last week’s game.
“But he’ll definitely be part of the squad.”
After last seasons incident, not many would have seen Bolingoli playing for Celtic again.
However, he has been given the lifeline and a fresh slate. Now is his chance to fight for that left-back slot.
On Sunday, he was far from the worst player on the pitch and put in a decent shift down the left, playing the entire game, which you would imagine wouldn’t have been in the plans considering the lack of game time.
It will be interesting to see who holds that position in the next few games, as the three players fight it out to become number one with the absence of Greg Taylor for the next few months.
