The combination of Celtic and Timothy Weah, if we’re all being honest with ourselves, hasn’t worked out.
The Hoops signed the USA international on-loan from PSG in January. It was one of the real eye-opening deals we’ve made this season, and excitement around what Weah could bring had us all buzzing.
Fast forward three months, however, and it feels like one heck of a missed opportunity. Indeed, Weah has made only THREE starts at Parkhead. In total, he’s had 16 outings for the Scottish Champions, but the majority of them have been late cameos.
And, yesterday, he wasn’t even part of the 18 to face Kilmarnock at Parkhead. Whether that was down to an injury or something different hasn’t been confirmed by anyone as of yet. But Weah seemed to hint at the omission on his Instagram a couple of days ago.
Celtic now have trips to Pittodrie and Ibrox respectively. Lennon throwing Weah in for either of those two matches seems extremely unlikely. He’s so far been sticking with the players he feels he can trust, although how Scott Sinclair comes into that bracket is beyond comprehension.
Weah could easily feature at some late stage in both games, as well as the final home game of the season against Hearts and the Scottish Cup final next month too. But, in all seriousness, even if he does, this whole deal will have been one missed opportunity.
If Weah had featured more often, we’re not saying he would’ve brought world peace or pulled up massive trees. But he would’ve offered us something different. He just has that touch of class, composure, and ability in the final third to make things happen.
Always at the heart of things
When he’s been brought on for Celtic, he’s always been at the heart of some late chances for the team. Take Easter Road last weekend for example, when his footwork opened up space for Odsonne Edouard, who could only see his effort halted by Ofir Marciano.
Against St Mirren in his last start, he opened the scoring with a fine header. It was a positive all-round display from Weah, and he injected some fresh life to the left-wing role.
But opportunities have been sparse for him in Glasgow. He just hasn’t been given the chance he should’ve gotten to shine.
The introduction of Lennon as manager seemingly hasn’t helped either. Lennon has occasionally left him out of the team altogether by either dropping him from the squad or not selecting him from the bench. At the very least, Brendan Rodgers always called on Weah at some stage.
Weah has spoken in the past about staying at Celtic. But just why should he? He deserves better than what we’ve given him this season, and if Lennon stays on, who’s to say that the USA star’s situation would change next year?
We’ve made a massive mess of this. Weah and Celtic could’ve been a match made in heaven. Instead, it’s felt like a forced relationship ever since Lennon came in the door.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
