Celtic’s B team are still uncertain over what league they’ll play in next season, it is being reported.
Last week, reports emerged that Celtic were planning on withdrawing from the Lowland League amid doubts over whether the idea has been a success.
Since 2021, a Celtic under-19s side has taken part in Scotland’s senior regionalised fifth tier, with a view to easing the pathway from the academy to the first-team.
Five years on, the B team is widely ridiculed. However, Thomas Brown, Lowland League’s chair, insisted that they are here to stay.
Why are Celtic struggling to bring through academy players?
‘Internal uncertainty’ over Celtic B Lowland League future
As reported in The Celtic Way, there remains “internal uncertainty” over the future of the Celtic B team, with players unclear on what the future holds.
Next season, the league will split into West and East divisions.
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In general, it’s a time of change for the Celtic academy. Shaun Maloney, new in his role as Player Pathways Manager at the start of this season, was quickly drafted in as first-team assistant to Martin O’Neill.
He replaced ex-B team manager Darren O’Dea in the newly-created role. Current B team manager, Stephen McManus, also vacated his usual job to work in O’Neill’s coaching staff.
He has been replaced in that role by his former assistant, Jonny Hayes. Current Head of Academy Coaching, Stevie Hammell, is set to replace Chris McCart as Head of Academy at the end of the season.
The B team will contest the Glasgow Cup final against Clyde at the end of the season, the Bully Wee’s first final appearance in the competition since 1989.
Additionally, the effectiveness of the recently-introduced club co-operation loan system has given the Hoops easier avenues to shipping out young players to clubs at SPFL level.
Right now alone, Celtic have six players on loan in the Scottish Championship: two at Partick Thistle and four at Ayr United.
Colby Donovan is the only former B team player to have any kind of meaningful involvement in the senior squad over the last five years.
Celtic have bloated their squad with a high volume of ‘project’ signings over the last decade…
Darren O’Dea on Celtic B setup
Speaking on Open Goal about the club’s academy pathways, O’Dea recently said: “Like, my thing was, when I was their age, I was not at their level, yet, I got opportunity and then took it and played 70 games.
“But I think Celtic, because there’s so much pressure now, I’d say, and because of this new thing of, you have to win the treble, there needs to be a club ethos to say, no, this is what needs to be done.
“Celtic’s recruitment strategy for years was to sign, kind of, younger players, but by definition sign a lot.
“And maybe, let’s say, sign eight: two are brilliant, two are okay, and four don’t do well. See the four? They don’t think get into the side. They keep training with the first team. That blocks the gap.
“So nearly my job, at the end, was get rid of these lads out on loan, get the money back for them, and then create a path into the first team for the young ones.”
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