Celtic’s Luis Palma reality as early talking point is raised

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Luis Palma made his first start for Celtic in Tuesday night’s defeat to Feyenoord.

The Honduras international had featured as a second-half substitute during our Premiership win over Dundee last weekend. But his big moment arrived against the Eredivisie side in the UEFA Champions League a few days later.

Palma may have been a surprise starter to some in a game of that magnitude, given his previous involvement under Brendan Rodgers. But the Celtic boss clearly felt he was ready for the big occasion.

The move didn’t quite pay off with Palma not really impacting the game in the way we would all have liked. As per Who Scored, he had just six dribbles in the match, with two of them successful. In all, he touched the ball 38 times in his hour on the park.

The notion of a ‘honeymoon period’ is a fanciful one nowadays. Palma may just be in the door but he is already being judged.

The subject of his performance came up on this week’s Open Goal ‘Right In The Coupon’ show. Former Celtic youngster Paul Slane and ex-Rangers man Derek Ferguson were both underwhelmed by the winger’s showing.

“I was expecting a wee bit more,” said Ferguson, with Slane agreeing.

“He just couldn’t get in the game,” explained former Scotland hero James McFadden.

“You were expecting somebody who’s going to be pacey and take people on. He didn’t really do that until the last run he had.

“It’s tough though. His first start and it was in the Champions League. It’s a tough one but he looked a wee bit off it, whether that’s lack of sharpness [or not].” (Open Goal)

While Palma’s performance maybe wasn’t the blow-away one many of us would have hoped for, the reality is that it is incredibly early days in his Celtic career.

He seems to this writer at least like your typical confidence player. Much like Jota, one big moment could be enough to spark him into life. That could arrive from a set-piece, like many of his goals for Aris Thessaloniki.

It was a tough first start for him at a level he had never experienced before. He wasn’t the only Hoops attacker not to stand out at De Kuip

Hopefully, he’s back in the team for Saturday’s clash against Livingston and can start to show us the undoubted quality that he possesses.

In other news, Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm will both be unavailable for Celtic’s clash against Lazio