There are plenty of Celtic youngsters and fringe players now out on loan looking to catch the eye of Neil Lennon.
Part of that process is about working your way into the side and showing the manager at your loan club that you’re good enough to feature for them regularly.
However, when it comes to Ross Doohan, Celtic must now have some concerns about his lack of opportunities.
Doohan was given to Ross County on a temporary basis just before the season began and actually impressed in a pre-season match at Celtic Park against his parent club. Some terrific stops in that one helped keep the score down at just 2-0.
Yet since then, he hasn’t managed a single minute of action. He moved to Dingwall in July and hasn’t managed a competitive match in any of County’s eight Premiership matches this season. Granted, one of those was against his parent club, meaning he was ineligible to feature.
But it’s a concern that County quite clearly have decided that he’s their back-up shot-stopper behind Ross Laidlaw.
If this was any other position on a football pitch then it wouldn’t be too much of a concern. There are always opportunities throughout a season for outfield players to stake their claim with squad rotation. However, a number one is a number one – that seldom changes midway through a season.
County manager Stuart Kettlewell recently explained why Doohan was being left out. As quoted by the Press and Journal several weeks ago, the County boss said: “We brought Ross in before the start of the season. We had him earmarked from way back but with the goalkeeping situation at Celtic it didn’t materialise until the season started.
“That probably gave us a scenario where we had to bed Doohan in but since then Laidlaw hasn’t put a foot wrong. I hope he continues that same vein of form but I know he is being pushed hard by Doohan. The goalkeeping situation we have here is one I am very comfortable with.”
Is it something Celtic should be comfortable with?
Laidlaw playing well is fair enough from a County perspective, but we have to be a bit more ruthless here. It’s not good enough for us considering Doohan is in Dingwall to get games.
If he isn’t playing then he can just do that at Celtic Park. The idea of moving to County was to get him regular minutes at senior level. Regardless of why that hasn’t been the case, it doesn’t help us.
If he doesn’t get a chance over the next couple of months, Celtic may have a decision to make. The likes of Conor Hazard is the club’s number three at the minute and is interesting Accrington Stanley, according to Sun journalist Alan Nixon.
Surely the only reason Hazard is being kept is because we don’t have a suitable replacement to take the number three at the moment. But that could change if Doohan is recalled.
Doohan has experience with Scotland at under-21 level, as well as previous first-team experience in the Championship. He would benefit more being our number three than County’s number two. Hazard, meanwhile, could potentially be allowed to go down to England’s League One and get senior minutes if Doohan is brought back.
As things stand, Doohan’s lack of game-time isn’t beneficial to the player or Celtic. Giving the Staggies until January to give him a shot could be an option if there is indeed an opportunity to recall him in the deal.
But this wasn’t the plan. Doohan is in Dingwall for game-time. So far, he’s not even being given a chance to show what he’s all about.
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