There has been a lot of noise around Kasper Schmeichel in recent days after his error-prone performance for Celtic against VfB Stuttgart in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Despite critics asking Martin O’Neill to drop his number one goalkeeper for Celtic’s Premiership clash against Hibernian on Sunday, he ignored the noise and kept him in the XI.
O’Neill explained that Schmeichel is ‘confident’ despite his poor form, as he also highlighted ‘five major saves’ the shot-stopper has made during his two spells in charge this term.
Of course, others will point towards Schmeichel’s continued mistakes, but the man in charge is sticking to his guns and keeping the faith.
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Sinisalo makes the bench as Kasper Schmeichel keeps his place?
Is this the right call? Let us know in the comments.
Martin O’Neill explains why he started Kasper Schmeichel for Celtic against Hibernian
Another issue here is that Schmeichel is getting booed by the Celtic fans, which helps nobody’s cause, regardless of what you think of him.
But whilst there is that heat from the outside, O’Neill is as strong as ever in what he thinks of the experienced goalkeeper.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, before Celtic and Hibernian could lock horns, O’Neill seemingly suggested it wasn’t a hard call, even with Viljami Sinisalo on the bench.
Reporter: “How difficult a decision was it to stick with your goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel? What factors did you take into account?”
O’Neill: “To me, he has made a lot of big saves for us during my time here. There is a lot of noise, like everything else. Let’s see how it goes.”
Reporter: “He has your full confidence? He has pulled the team out of a few sticky situations. Have you spoken to him? How is his confidence?”
O’Neill: “Yeah, yeah. He is confident. Listen. He is nearly the same age as me. He should be able to deal with these things. No real problem.
“He has made, well, since I have been in here. He must have made about five major saves at really important moments for us in games. He’s a big lad. I am hoping he will be able to deal with it.
“He’s an established goalkeeper. An international goalkeeper. He’s had moments like this before in his career, as all goalkeepers go through. I have confidence he can pull this around.”
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