Celtic loanee Youssouf Mulumbu a no-show for Kilmarnock yet again

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Celtic loanee Youssouf Mulumbu was yet again a no-show for Kilmarnock in their match against St Mirren last night.

The Congolese midfielder made just three appearances at Parkhead before moving back to Rugby Park on loan. The move would’ve ideally seen him been given more game-time ahead of coming back to Glasgow in the summer.

So far, however, he’s made just four appearances out of a possible seven outings for Killie. Against St Mirren last night, in a 1-0 win for the Ayrshire side, Mulumbu seemingly missed out with a slight knock.

But injured or not, he’s in a dark place when it comes to the Parkhead pecking order. You need both hands to count the amount of players in front of him now.

The likes of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie, Nir Bitton, Olivier Ntcham, and even Ewan Henderson are all seemingly ahead of Mulumbu in the midfield.

The only way he likely would’ve been able to make the Celtic manager change his mind on him would’ve been to perform week-in/week-out for Killie. So far that’s just not been the case, as fitness concerns continue to bug him.

Mulumbu also has to impress a manager that didn’t sign him

Even the manager that signed him, Brendan Rodgers, has now left the club. It’s difficult to see how Mulumbu fits into a Neil Lennon system, should the Northern Irishman get the job permanently.

Mulumbu’s signing was a positive one at the time. He offered real strength in depth and had terrific power that bossed the likes of Ntcham and Brown last season.

But this year, he’s struggled to keep himself fully fit, and this has led to him plummeting away down the pecking order.

Kilmarnock only have nine games left to play this season. There’s barely any time for Mulumbu to make much of an impression. He can’t play at Parkhead either, and therefore only has eight more chances to show what he can do.

When he comes back to Celtic Park, it’s unlikely that he’s impressed sufficiently to deserve a run in the team. He’ll have another 12 months remaining on his deal, but already it looks as though his chances at Celtic could be coming to an end.