Sunday afternoon’s 3-0 defeat at Ibrox told Celtic supporters nothing they did not already suspect about the middle of this team. What Stephen McGowan revealed afterwards should cause considerably more concern.
Speaking on Graeme Spiers’ Pressbox podcast, The Herald journalist claimed Celtic knew they needed a No.6, had a player in their sights before the transfer window closed and ultimately decided not to sign him, without ever divulging their name.
“It goes back to this point about the lack of a number six,” McGowan said. “I mean, they knew they needed one. I know for a fact they had one in their sights before the window closed. They decided not to sign him for whatever reason, and now he’s gone to the Middle East. So only they can answer why that was the case.”
This isn’t people watching a 3-0 Glasgow Derby defeat and suddenly deciding, with the benefit of hindsight, that Celtic could have done with a more physical midfielder. According to McGowan, Celtic had already identified the need themselves and considered a player capable of filling it.
They chose not to proceed.
Then came Ibrox.
McGowan did not dress up what happened on Sunday.
“Rangers were absolutely on top in every available metric. They overpowered Celtic, they won the duels, they outnumbered them in midfield, took their chances, they ran harder, they fought harder, they won every second ball.”
It was difficult to argue with any of that after watching Celtic struggle to get any sort of grip on the game.
McGowan then returned to the type of midfielder he believes this team has been crying out for.
“I think what today showed more than anything is what we have been talking about, I don’t know how long for, the need for Celtic to have a physical box to box number six. Somebody can go and protect what is now a creaking and cranking central defence.”
“Celtic’s midfield is weak, it’s porous, it’s nowhere near it. Callum McGregor isn’t getting any younger, and they fail to deal with glaring areas of attention in the transfer window.”
Martin O’Neill will take his share of criticism for Sunday, and rightly so. The team selection did not work, Celtic never found an answer to Rangers in midfield and the manager was unable to change the direction of the game.
McGowan acknowledged that too, saying O’Neill “did not have a good day”, but he also made an important distinction. The manager did not build this squad.
“When those questions will rightly be asked of Martin O’Neill, I think the responsibility is collective.”
There is nothing wrong with Celtic being financially secure. There is a problem when the club has money available, knows where the squad is short and still reaches the end of a transfer window without addressing it.
McGowan also highlighted the physical limitations of the players currently being asked to operate in that area.
“Callum McGregor and Mika Bauer, they’re not the biggest, they’re not the strongest, they’re not the most physical.”
We don’t know the identity of the midfielder Celtic passed on and there is no point guessing. McGowan says he has since moved to the Middle East.
The identity isn’t really the story anyway.
The story is that Celtic apparently knew they needed this type of player, had somebody ready to come in and then dropped interest.
After watching Rangers run through the middle of the park on Sunday afternoon, supporters are entitled to ask why Michael Nicholson and his cohorts decided to shut up shop.
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One Response
Celtic need a player like Scott Brown, when Mcgregor is taken out of the equation there is not a player who stands up and be counted.
We need a leader who can say, ” Right, lets get stuck in here” we havent got a player who can put a tackle in to say ” up yours pal i dont care who you are”