Celtic boss Neil Lennon has hit back at those who have criticised the signing of Hatem Abd Elhamed.
The Hoops announced the deal yesterday with a social media post on Twitter. As we showed yesterday, the reaction to that post hasn’t been great. Sections of the Celtic support aren’t too keen on the fact that Elhamed mainly played at centre-back last season.
With so much emphasis on securing a top-quality right-back this summer, you can see why some would be concerned. Elhamed only has one cap for Israel, and it certainly wasn’t a costly deal for the club at £1.6million (The Herald).
But speaking to the Daily Record, Lennon has launched a staunch defence of his new signing, claiming that those who are concerned clearly haven’t seen him play.
“These people who say he’s not an out and out right-back have probably never seen him play before. He started his career as a right-back and at times he’s played as a centre-half. When I watched him the last four or five games of last season he played right back.
“He can play both positions very, very comfortably.
“Experience, pace, athleticism. Technically, he’s a good player. He can also play in a number of positions. I like him, he’s hungry and I think he’s a good footballer and he’s got an injection of pace that will add to what we have already.”
Celtic boss must be taken at his word
It’s difficult to take Lennon at anything other than his word here. Not many of us will have seen Elhamed regularly, and certainly not as much as the manager has over the last few weeks.
If the manager says that Elhamed is a natural right-back, then who are we to argue? He’ll have been briefed a lot more on him than any of us.
But, in fairness, he can’t be judged on the “four or five” games Neil says he played last season at right-back. After all, Nir Bitton plays four or five games per season at centre-back for us. It doesn’t necessarily make him very good at it.
So much is being made of Elhamed’s pace too. It’s the one thing that Mikael Lustig lacked during his final years at Celtic Park. With a bit of luck, Elhamed will prove to be a massive improvement in that regard.
We’ve been seeing just how much James Forrest can struggle if he doesn’t have solid help down the right. Kristoffer Ajer does a fine job as a replacement, but he’s not a natural right-back. The sooner we get Elhamed into the squad, hopefully, it should help us see the best of Forrest again.
At the very least, Lennon has cleared up what our plans are for Elhamed. A place at right-back looks like being his main role.
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