After tonight’s disaster against Copenhagen, it’s time for Celtic manager Neil Lennon to have serious words with Jozo Simunovic.
The centre-back was shocking on an individual aspect against the Danes tonight. Celtic lost 3-1 at Parkhead to crash out of the Europa League last-32 stage.
The game was going well enough as we headed into half-time with the scoreline at 0-0. There was plenty of frustration at the fact that we hadn’t scored, but it was acceptable enough.
Where this match totally turned was when Jozo made a shocking back-pass to Fraser Forster that Copenhagen capitalised on. Michael Santos slotted home in the end, with Copenhagen sensing real belief after that.
They controlled the rest of the game with real confidence. Things took a brief turn when Odsonne Edouard chipped home a penalty, but Pep Biel and Dame N’Doye scored late goals to seal things.
Too many mistakes
Simunovic was all at sea after his error too. He looked uncomfortable on the ball, severely lacked in confidence, and didn’t clear his lines with any conviction.
He was lucky not to be punished in the first-half either. A lack of concentration allowed Mikkel Kaufmann to win a corner that could’ve led to an opener.
He was also far too weak in trying to stop N’Doye’s goal either. The striker outmuscled him far too easily to barge through and slot home the third.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen this from Simunovic. The warning lights were there after Sunday when he clumsily brought down Eamonn Brophy to slam home a penalty for Kilmarnock.
There’s a reason he wasn’t always a first-choice centre-back under Brendan Rodgers. Lennon needs to stop throwing him into big-game environments. He’s simply getting either too nervous or simply struggling through a lack of quality. Remember, Jozo left a lot to be desired against Cluj back in August too in that horrendous 4-3 defeat.
It’s time the manager had some serious words with him. He can protect Jozo in front of the media all he likes, but unfortunately the big centre-back has cost us in Europe tonight and in a massive way. It’s time to get to the bottom of why these errors continue to occur.
What did you make of Jozo’s display tonight? Is it time to stop giving him big-game opportunities? Was he the main man at fault this evening? Give us your verdict in the discussion forum below.
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