As Celtic get set to take on Ferencvaros this week in our UEFA Champions League second qualifying round, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Hoops are in need of a new left-back before we go any further.
As things stand, Neil Lennon only has Greg Taylor at his disposal. The disgraced Boli Bolingoli’s career in Glasgow is surely finished after his jaunt to Spain and subsequent failure to quarantine (Sky Sports).
However, even with Taylor in position, it’s becoming more and more difficult to argue against the idea that the club needs to strengthen further.
Former Kilmarnock full-back Taylor has had his ups and downs already this season. He’s been part of a Celtic side who have won three of their opening four competitive games this season. He also bagged two assists on opening day against Hamilton.
Stat-tracking website Who Scored has even given Taylor ratings of over 7 out of 10 in recent matches against Hamilton and Dundee United respectively.
But we can’t mistake Taylor’s energy for efficiency. Too often this season, the left-back’s crosses have smacked off the first man or another opposition defender in the box. This is despite the fact he often makes good runs to give himself space and time to deliver.
In addition to that, our current first choice just doesn’t look too comfortable defensively. His failure to close down cross balls almost led to two goals for Hamilton on opening day.
On Sunday, meanwhile, United got most of their joy down our right side as Luke Bolton was given far too much space at times by Taylor. This should’ve led to an opener for the Tangerines before the break.
Taylor has his place, but an upgrade is required
The Scotland international has his place in the squad, make no mistake about that. He’s a solid option to have if necessary and can provide real quality cover in the position. But is he a first-choice Celtic left-back? No.
Taylor should be fine against Ferencvaros. This is a side Celtic should be comfortably beating – let’s not kid ourselves here. Yes, we’ll respect the fact they came close to reaching the last-32 of the Europa League last season. But the fact is that they didn’t and we DID make the last-32, as well as having the bigger European pedigree.
However, for the third qualifying round, should we qualify, it’s essential Celtic have a real high-quality first-choice left-back in the door.
With the draw in two weeks’ time, Celtic could come up against fresh foes and could even be drawn away from home.
The third qualifying round has been Celtic’s bogey round in the last two years. AEK Athens and CFR Cluj respectively knocked us out of the Champions League at that very stage. So it can’t be underestimated if we get there.
Against Cluj, they exploited our left-back crisis both at home and away as Boli was posted missing for their goal in Romania whilst Callum McGregor was outmuscled for their Parkhead opener.
Should we KO Ferencvaros, we could be given a real draw from hell. And we very easily could be up against a side who will be able to exploit any outstanding weakness in our defensive ranks.
So far this term, Taylor has shown too many weaknesses to be entrusted as our first-choice against high-quality opposition. He has great energy and will do for most games domestically, but we shouldn’t mistake it for genuine quality.
Celtic have three weeks to get a new man in before the scheduled third qualifying round tie on September 15th/16th (UEFA). If we fail to do so, we aren’t giving ourselves the best chance possible to qualify.
In other news, young Cameron Harper has tweeted his delight at being given his first-team call by Neil Lennon.
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