Celtic's fundamental flaw spotted as poor transfer work snowballs into key issue on two fronts
The Hoops have been told their poor recruitment over the season has left them lacking in two key areas.
Robbie Neilson can’t see Celtic’s ‘horrendous’ season getting better after their defeat to Dundee United - as the former Hearts player and manager puts their recruitment under a microscope.
For the second time this season, Celtic tasted defeat at Tannadice, as Will Ferry and Emmanuel Agyei severely dented their title hopes. Martin O’Neill’s side looked shaky at the back and created very little in attack as they lost ground on both Hearts and Rangers in their quest to retain the Scottish Premiership crown.
After the match, supporters once again protested against the board, who they feel is responsible for the club’s below-par recruitment throughout the season. Neilson thinks the Dundee United game further highlights Celtic’s issues at both ends of the pitch and believes if O’Neill can’t get a tune out of his current crop, it could be curtains for them in the race.
Neilson on Celtic’s lack of attacking quality
Speaking on BBC Sounds’ Scottish Football Podcast, Neilson said: “When you're looking at the striker options, you've got (Kelechi) Iheanacho who's only played like five games, and they're relying on him now to come in and try and score goals. Obviously Benjamin Nygren’s got 14, but other than that, they're just not scoring and they're not creating.
“I watched the game last weekend against Dundee United and you would expect Celtic to make substitutions, bring on goals and the game goes in their favour, as we've seen over the years. But it was just flat. And I think from a striking point of view, the recruitment's been poor. They've not scored enough goals.”
Benjamin Nygren has been Celtic’s main supplier this season from midfield in terms of attacking numbers as the goals have dried up for the likes of Daizen Maeda and Kelechi Iheanacho. Tomas Cvancara has proved to be lethal from the penalty spot but has only scored once from open play. Fellow January loan additions Junior Adamu and Joel Mvuka have both failed to hit the ground running.
Neilson on Celtic’s defensive woes
The former Hearts boss continued: “Defensively, it seems to be a lottery every time they pick who they're going to go with. I know that injury-wise, obviously (Cameron) Carter-Vickers has been out, Alistair Johnston has been out, (Auston) Trusty was suspended and Kasper Schmeichel's form has been off, he's now out as well.
“So at both ends of the pitch, the two most important areas, you know, the defensive line and the attacking line, you just don't know what you're going to get performance-wise, but also personnel-wise. So, yeah, it's been a horrendous season for Celtic and I don't see it getting any better.”
Benjamin Arthur has been the standout at the back for The Hoops in recent weeks as O’Neill continues to rely heavily on the 20-year old Brentford loanee. Meanwhile full-back Julian Araujo’s Parkhead future is uncertain as he returned to his parent club, AFC Bournemouth, to receive treatment on a thigh issue.
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