Great news for Celtic today regarding the Alexandro Bernabei suspension latest.
The Scottish Daily Express has reported that the Hoops will be free to play their new signing from Lanus when they face Aberdeen on opening day. Bernabei has been brought in to provide competition for Greg Taylor, with many Celtic supporters expecting him to be an upgrade on the Scotland international.
As of yet, the Celtic supporters have yet to see the Argentine in action. We all hope that will change in the first pre-season game against Wiener Viktoria in Austria tonight. But today’s news also opens up a big question over what Ange will do on flag day.
Bernabei will be seen as part of Ange’s evolution of the current Celtic squad. A player brought in to bolster the quality we have at left-back. In other words – an immediate first-team starter.
There’s no better environment to throw Alexandro into the mix than against Aberdeen on flag day. The Celtic supporters will be in fine voice and the atmosphere will be absolutely electric. It’s the perfect opportunity to get his own Celtic career off to a flyer.
But on the other side of the coin you have Taylor – a left-back who has been so dependable for Ange and who played a key role en route to winning the Premiership last season. Already this looks like an intriguing battle.
Alexandro Bernabei vs Greg Taylor – a sign of the Celtic evolution
Taylor will feel he deserves the opportunity to represent on flag day. After all, it’s a day of celebration and, in part, is the final moment for the players to reflect on the season before. A season in which Taylor featured on 35 occasions and was a rock in big moments for the club [Transfermarkt].
We’re not going to predict who Ange goes for at this early stage. That would be naive and unfair on both men. Especially when we’ve yet to see how the duo perform in pre-season. But this is a battle you can be sure will go right down to flag day.
This is one of the healthy battles Ange is going to have throughout the season. He’ll be hoping that level of competition spurs both men on to develop their own respective games and reach new heights. That’s the kind of environment he wants to create here.
It’s something the manager wants for every position too. We saw it at times last season when there were debates over the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi and Giorgos Giakoumakis. Anthony Ralston and Josip Juranovic. Liel Abada and James Forrest.
These kinds of battles should be happening all over the pitch. That’s what separates a decent sized club from a big one. Having Bernabei and Taylor battle it out for minutes will be an intriguing prospect as the season goes on.
But when it comes to who will be his number 1? It’s certainly going to be a tough decision for Ange to make and don’t expect it to become clear quickly.
In other news, Ex-Celtic goalkeeper lands trial in League One after Lennoxtown exit
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