Martin O’Neill has already shown his ruthless side at Celtic.
Even though O’Neill played a huge part in the fresh faces Celtic signed during the January transfer window, he is already not using some of them, as he proved with Junior Adamu in recent matches.
At the hour mark of Celtic’s clash against Hibernian on Sunday, and with the scores level, Pat Bonner noticed how the out-of-form Daizen Maeda was brought on, alongside Reo Hatate, but the winter signing was left on the bench.
Less than ten minutes later, two more changes were made. Once again, Adamu remained seated before Auston Trusty’s red card in the 74th minute changed the tide of the match, and it meant the final substitution was centre-back Benjamin Arthur.
- READ MORE: Chris Sutton says Martin O’Neill got it ‘wrong’ with Kasper Schmeichel for Celtic’s loss v Hibernian
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Junior Adamu isn’t used by Martin O’Neill once again
It’s a rather worrying sign because during Celtic’s defeat to VfB Stuttgart last Thursday in their Europa League playoff tie, Adamu got the same treatment, despite the Hoops always searching for that goal in the second half.
Either way, speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Bonner stated, ‘it tells you something’ that, less than a month after arriving on loan from SC Freiburg, Adamu isn’t being used.
“Maeda came on to play through the middle,” said Bonner. “It just tells you something about the other option on the bench, Junior Adamu, that he doesn’t go with him.”
Adamu’s record against Stuttgart, and why he must start in Germany
Celtic travel to Germany on Thursday evening, days before their trip to Ibrox, and many think O’Neill should ring the changes for the second leg playoff clash.
Even the most ardent of supporters knows that the game is gone, and it would take a miracle to overturn the 4-1 defeat from the first leg.
That’s why O’Neill needs to start Adamu against Stuttgart, familiar opponents, given that he has already played them twice in the Bundesliga.
| Adamu’s games vs VfB Stuttgart | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals | Assists |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
This way, it freshens up the XI, provides Adamu the chance to stake a claim for the Rangers clash, and if it doesn’t work out, then there is nothing to lose because Celtic are already crashing out of the Europa League.
Either way, it would be a wise call to provide several of the fringe players with a chance to get some much-needed minutes under their belt and bring some form to the table.
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