Can you remember much from Stephen Welsh yesterday in his 45-minute Celtic appearance?
Probably not. But that’s fine, because that’s exactly what you want to be saying about your centre-backs at home to St Mirren.
Indeed, Welsh was given 45 minutes for the injured Nir Bitton at half-time. Before that, he was watching from the stands as Greg Taylor, Bitton, and Shane Duffy all made horrendous defensive errors to put us 2-1 behind.
It’s something that’s plagued Celtic all season. Ridiculous defensive mistakes that are so amateur-hour you likely wouldn’t see them anywhere else in the SPFL. Duffy’s error for Ilkay Durmus’ winner yesterday being a prime example of what’s cost us the 10.
In the second half, St Mirren didn’t have a sniff. Listen, that’s not just down to Welsh. Saints had the lead they were after, and even if they showed one or two signs of second-half intent, they were mainly trying to protect what they had.
Stephen Welsh wasn’t taken aback by St Mirren’s high press on Celtic
However, that didn’t stop them from pressing high and trying to force more errors out of our back-line. They didn’t manage to get anything out of Welsh.
Even when Jim Goodwin threw on the energetic Eamonn Brophy, the Buddies still didn’t get any chance from Stephen.
Stat-tracking WhoScored clocked the official stats behind Welsh’s 45 minutes. His ball-retention throughout was fantastic. He managed a total of 38 passes with a passing accuracy of 94.7%. He was given a rank of 6.43/10 – higher than nine other Celts involved yesterday.
It’s not blistering, but it shows he’s capable, dependable, and ready to be given more opportunities. Why we’re continuing to play a midfielder at centre-back is bemusing. Why we’re playing a centre-back who so clearly isn’t at the races and won’t be here next season alongside him is even more baffling.
Before yesterday, Welsh hadn’t played since the 1-1 draw with Hibs at Parkhead in the first game post-Dubai. Before that? His last league appearance was all the way back in October in the 2-0 loss to Rangers [Transfermarkt].
Yet he continues to show he’s no worse than those playing ahead of him when he gets his rare opportunities. And supporters definitely felt the same as he was left out of the starting line-up again yesterday:
https://twitter.com/AlanGannon3/status/1355606643279585280
https://twitter.com/dreilly89/status/1355547343651799044
https://twitter.com/McCann1967/status/1355542484500287489
https://twitter.com/J4yQuinn/status/1355543359683747841
In other news, Callum McGregor has made a worrying dressing room admission after Celtic’s latest disaster.
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