Celtic told why Brendan Rodgers ‘froze out’ Callum Osmand before Martin O’Neill’s return

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It could be argued that the biggest positive from Brendan Rodgers’ exit has been the emergence of Callum Osmand.

Celtic signed Osmand from Fulham in the summer, and it was expected that he would be competing and playing for the senior side, despite never having played a competitive match on the senior stage.

But instead, as Celtic fans protested against the board and Rodgers moaned about the 2025 summer transfer window, the teenager brought in from Fulham was nowhere to be seen.

However, Martin O’Neill’s arrival changed all of that, and he threw Osmand straight into the deep end, including bringing him off the bench after an hour as he scored against Rangers in the League Cup semi-final over the weekend.

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Why Brendan Rodgers ‘froze out’ Callum Osmand at Celtic

Kris Boyd questioned, given the sharpness of Osmand, ‘where has he been?’ and ‘why was he frozen out under Rodgers?’

With his coaching hat on, former Hearts boss Steven Naismith thinks Celtic’s heavy schedule would have played a part.

Naismith thinks Osmand perhaps ‘didn’t get as many opportunities’ to show what he is all about, and as a result, he was ‘overlooked for selection’ time and time again.

Boyd: “Another youngster, by the way, Callum Osmand, he came on, where has he been?”

Naismith: “He looked sharp, by the way. He looked really sharp.”

Boyd: “Why is he not. We will touch on the statement from Dermot Desmond. Then you look at it, why was he frozen out under Brendan Rodgers?”

Naismith: “I will touch upon this from a coaching point of view. I think when you are around the squad so much. Nearly every day with Europe, and that.

“Sometimes, you can be too close to it. You maybe don’t see the same things in training. Don’t get as many opportunities to show the manager, which then you may get overlooked for selection. That’s clearly what has happened here.

“The new management team has gone in. In the first few days, he has clearly shown, ‘by the way, he can do a bit for us.’ And it’s a clean slate. Then he gets his opportunity.”

How Osmand would have felt under Rodgers

Following Celtic’s win over Rangers, Osmand, whilst standing on the Hampden Park pitch, spoke about the difficulties he went through.

Charlie Mulgrew feels, given Celtic’s troubles up top this term, players like Osmand would have felt ‘c__p’ every time Rodgers was overlooking him.

“See when Brendan Rodgers was coming out and talking about transfer constantly,” said Mulgrew.

“That was the sort of agenda everyone was on about. Not good enough striker, and all these people in the final third.

“Everybody overlooked how the players in the building might have felt. How much Osmand must have looked at and thought, ‘I must be c__p then. I am not getting a chance.’ His confidence must have been drained.”