The John Kennedy decision that should have Celtic duo concerned

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John Kennedy barely managed to make a correct decision this afternoon, but there is one in particular that will leave a Celtic duo concerned.

Kennedy unsurprisingly went with Odsonne Edouard up top. That was another of his mistakes despite the fact the Frenchman managed to net in Govan. It doesn’t sit right with me that players who won’t be playing here next season were in that starting line-up.

But that’s not the decision that will have Hoops pair Albian Ajeti and Leigh Griffiths. Nope, instead it would’ve been the sight of Mikey Johnston getting set to come on that will surely have infuriated them.

Not because Johnston is a poor player you understand. Mikey will hopefully have a big future at Celtic Park and potentially become our long-term left-winger in the coming years. But he was thrown on by Kennedy today to be the replacement for Edouard with just under 20 minutes remaining.

To put it into context, Kennedy could’ve chosen Ajeti or Griffiths – both centre-forwards – to take Edouard’s place in the closing stages and give us a focal point. He could’ve even gone with two up top if he wanted to be bolder.

Instead, both were snubbed. Both were snubbed in place of a 22-year-old left-winger who’s only featured nine times all season [Transfermarkt]. This comes after Griffiths netted a last-gasp equaliser at Pittodrie 11 days ago. After Kennedy had previously praised him for what he had been given in training [Glasgow Times].

John Kennedy and his in-game decision-making continues to baffle

As for Ajeti, it says a lot that a £5m striker brought in from West Ham is being overlooked by a struggling academy product [Sky Sports]. How the mighty have fallen.

And it doesn’t bode well for their chances of featuring in the next two matches either. Rangers at Ibrox was always our biggest match of the closing weeks of the campaign. Winning there would’ve meant a lot to Kennedy and the Celtic fans. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to trust either of the strikers he placed on the bench.

Which makes you wonder then – why even place them in amongst the subs? If you weren’t going to bring them on when we were chasing the game and you were taking the main striker off anyway, why are they there?

It certainly isn’t a good look ahead of the new managerial appointment, whenever that is. It suggests neither man can be entrusted to do a job off the bench in big games for the football club.

It’s difficult to know exactly what Kennedy was doing, but both men should try and look to the summer window with hope. After all, it’s not as if the interim boss has shown himself to be prudent with his in-game decision making.

The likes of Griffiths and Ajeti will almost certainly be pleased to see Kennedy leave the managerial role. They need opportunities, and John just hasn’t provided them with any.

In other news, we take a look at three ways Celtic can start turning itself around this week.