BRENDAN RODGERS has a plethora of talent to call on for this Sunday’s semi final but with players out of form and the Irishman’s over-willingness at times to chop and change, he can’t be sure of his best eleven.
Celtic fans certainly aren’t sure of the clubs best starting XI.
There are three key decisions to be made with regards to squad selection in my mind and it starts with the goalkeeper.
Bain or Gordon?Â
Gordon has the tenure and the experience at this level. Bain has momentum and has hardly put a glove wrong since coming into the squad. If either make a mistake at Hampden, Rodgers will be hounded about his choice but on the flip side of the coin, if he starts Bain and he plays a blinder then the manager will get the kudos.
As progressive as I pretend to be, I feel somehow more secure if Gordon were to come back into the team for this game if he’s fully fit. He has the experience and has proven on more than one occasion he can win these sort of matches with his shot stopping.
Ntcham or Armstrong
It looked like Stuart Armstrong was waking from his slumber against Ross County a couple of weeks back when he chased down everything and got on the scoresheet in the process. His performance against Dundee and then Hamilton have left his starting place on Sunday in jeopardy and Olivier Ntcham is breathing down his neck.
Like Bain, Ntcham has done nothing wrong and would have found it strange to be left out of the team following the international break, he came back in against Hamilton and showed some nice touches although his shooting was way off. Should he get the nod with Brown in midfield? I’m 50/50 on this one.
Dembele or Griffiths
This is the hardest one of all, you have Griffiths who came onto rescue us against Hamilton with nothing happening for Dembele but when it comes to Glasgow Derbies, Moussa is more than likely to fancy a goal. That’s why I think the manager will start with the Frenchman again; the space and opportunities that open up against The Rangers seems to suit him, although if Griffiths was to start you wouldn’t hear me grumble.
