Pat Bonner thinks Viljami Sinisalo is ready to start for Celtic against Rangers on Sunday after he was a ‘real positive’ in Stuttgart.
Martin O’Neill made wholesale changes for Celtic’s trip to Germany on Thursday night, where his side were trailing 4-1 from the first leg, and more or less, out of the Europa League.
The inevitable happened, but Celtic’s 1-0 win in Stuttgart, and Sinisalo’s clean sheet, has resulted in Bonner once again calling for the former Aston Villa star be the number one ahead of Kasper Schmeichel.
” I would think, on that performance, he would start him (against Rangers), and also have a run in the team now to see how it goes,” said Bonner.
“I thought he should have been given the gloves earlier in the season.”
The issue for Schmeichel is the fact that many have been calling for him to be dropped for a while now, so this performance from Sinisalo just amplifies things.
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What’s interesting about Bonner’s viewpoint in all of this is that there aren’t many people who are better equipped to give their opinion on this matter than one of Celtic’s greatest ever goalkeepers.
Added to that, from the start of the season, the legendary Irishman has been calling for Sinisalo to become Celtic’s number one.
Therefore, given the troubles Schmeichel has gone through, and now this performance from Sinisalo, it’s pretty clear what Bonner wants.
He wants Sinisalo to start for Celtic against Rangers on Sunday, but he is wary of the type of conversation O’Neill would have had with his number one keeper before the game.
If O’Neill told Schmeichel that ‘you are back in at the weekend’, then it’s going to be pretty difficult for him to go against his word, despite this display from Sinisalo.
“That’s a real positive,” said Bonner on BBC Radio Scotland (26/02/26). “He had some very, very good saves. He looked composed when he had the ball. Read the game well, and that is a real positive out of all this.
“Now it’s a big decision for Martin to make at the weekend. I would think, on that performance, he would start him, and also have a run in the team now to see how it goes.
“I thought he should have been given the gloves earlier in the season. Give him a run. Let him play when the pressure isn’t on, as early in the season. But build up his confidence. Build up his experience. Build up his decision-making. All the things that you want from a young goalkeeper.
“If then, he isn’t good enough, at least then, you are in a position to make a decision. But now they are almost desperate to get a goalkeeper who can actually play and play well. It’s a chance to put him in because he is inexperienced and young.
“But I think he did well against Stuttgart, and he did enough to suggest that he should get into the team. I don’t know what conversation Martin would have had with Kasper Schmeichel.
“Maybe he has talked to him and said, ‘We will leave you out tonight, and you are back in at the weekend.’
“If he has had that conversation. I am not sure what would happen. I am only surmising. Then he has to put him back in, then the pressure is back on Kasper, because of the performance of Sinisalo.”
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