Scott Brown and James McFadden deliver honest verdict on Liverpool loanee Nat Phillips after Celtic defeat

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This Nat Phillips loan spell from Liverpool isn’t going the way Celtic or the player himself wanted. 

The 26-year-old joined Celtic in the summer on a short-term loan deal to help Brendan Rodgers with the here and now.

The likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Maik Nawrocki were out injured, at the time, so Nat Phillips was going to come in and, hopefully, do the job straight away.

But that just hasn’t been the case and you get the Shane Duffy vibes with this signing, which is a huge, huge shame.

It was topped off by his own goal that led to Kilmarnock’s comeback on Sunday, with Scott Brown and James McFadden sympathising with the player, as they told Sky Sports Football (10/12/23 at 2:15 pm). 

The issue probably wasn’t with the own goal itself because on any other day that ball can go another direction.

But the issue with Nat Phillips is that he had a poor game overall, especially when Kilmarnock played on the front foot in the second half.

Nat Phillips’ own goal for Celtic

“To be fair, that’s a lunge that could go anywhere,” said Brown. “As we said at the start of the game, Carter-Vickers is a huge miss. He is the core of that defence. He pulls everybody together.

“But can we stop the cross to start with? When it goes into the box, can Joe (Hart) maybe come out? Can he save it? It’s a hard one to be perfectly honest with you. It’s a great ball in, let’s not take anything away from that.”

McFadden added: “I think it’s a tough one. I think you look at Kilmarnock again – If you aren’t picking your strikers up, then put it in an area where defenders have to defend.

“You are saying because he put it into the back of the net, then he probably could leave it. But, in the circumstance, the fact that Kilmarnock have got bodies in the box, he has to try and do something. Maybe go with the left foot to hook it clear.”

Nat Phillips’ loan spell at Celtic

There is no doubt that Phillips will return to Liverpool in January, with Maik Nawrocki back on the bench and now needing to get his fitness levels up.

You have to sympathise with the centre-back because it seemed as though he arrived at Parkhead lacking fitness, before picking up an injury.

It also needs to be noted that he hardly plays for Liverpool either, playing only 242 minutes of football last season. 

You do have to then question why he was signed in the first place because he was always behind the eight-ball from the off.