Everybody will have their own views on what went wrong at Kilmarnock at the weekend, but there is perhaps one thing we could all agree on.
Celtic slumped to a 1-1 stalemate at Rugby Park over the weekend as Chris Burke’s penalty canceled out Ryan Christie’s superb free-kick. And, interestingly, despite 45 minutes of plan A not working, Neil Lennon waited until after the hour-mark to make a change.
Hatem Elhamed and Patryk Klimala came on for Mohamed Elyounoussi and Jeremie Frimpong respectively. However, to be quite honest, many of us would agree that his opening subs came about 21 minutes too late.
Celtic were struggling to break down Killie for long spells of the first half. The worrying part was the fact that Danny Rogers, the Kilmarnock goalkeeper, wasn’t even forced into making a save after Christie’s dead-ball cracker.
Even last season, not making a change at half-time in a game like this would’ve been heavily scrutinised. But we now have the five substitution rule, and in matches where we’re struggling, Lenny has to learn how to use it more efficiently.
It all got a bit ridiculous in the end at Rugby Park. Boli Bolingoli was a bit randomly tossed on whilst Scott Brown was hooked for Olivier Ntcham in a sub that clearly also needed made at the break.
No need to panic about having enough subs
The whole idea of not using subs at half-time back when there was a limit of three was that managers didn’t want to be in a difficult situation if players got tired late on. They always wanted some subs available in case of tired legs or injuries in the second 45.
The five-sub rule offers Lennon, and every manager in Scottish football, that luxury. It should take away any fears managers have about trying to change a game too early.
Klimala and Ntcham were two key subs that were needed to be brought on at half-time yesterday. If they were made, Lennon would still have had three more to make for later on in the game.
In a season as high-staked as the 10-in-a-row one, the Hoops boss needs to be more ruthless than he was yesterday. We can’t be waiting 60 minutes hoping the likes of Elyounoussi and Brown perform, for example.
It took too long to switch to the 3-5-2 system which ripped Kilmarnock apart back in the early stages of 2020. We may not have ended up winning the game had the switches been made earlier, but you give yourself every chance by making them.
In the end, we’re left to count the cost of two dropped points. Hopefully, Lenny gets used to this new five-sub rule and isn’t so hesitant in the future to make the changes that are required.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
