Brighton assistant manager Billy Reid has tipped James McCarthy to become a big hit at Celtic next season as he pointed to the likes of Mark Noble and Scott Brown’s battles against adversity..
McCarthy has arguably been Ange Postecoglou’s most fruitless signing of the lot after a hectic summer of incomings at Parkhead.
The experienced Republic of Ireland international signed a 4-year deal in the summer, but has only started 4 league games since his arrival [Transfermarkt]. His last appearance in the starting XI came all the way back in December too.
But former boss Reid, who brought James through the youth ranks at Hamilton, believes he still has plenty to offer the Hoops and believes the likes of Noble and Brown have shown the way to defy critics at an experienced age:
As quoted by the Daily Record, Reid said: “James is in a position where he needs to prove himself all over again and show Celtic the player he can be. He’s been blighted by injuries in the latter part of his career but people forget that he had an incredible amount of senior appearances as a teenager and had huge demands placed on him. Nobody needs to convince me he can still be a big success at Celtic.
“There will be some who have their doubts but if James can get minutes under his belt then I’d back him to make the cynics eat their words. Ange Postecoglou has a superb array of midfield players and it’s like anything in football, it’s all about proving that you deserve to play. That’s the test for James at Celtic and it’s a test he’ll already be aiming to rise to next season.
“I look at Mark Noble who I saw when we played West Ham last week, he’s still at the top despite being 35 years old. Scott Brown was being written off every season after he turned 30 but look at the size of his character to show people they are wrong. He always came back stronger. Players are always being tested and this is another test for James.”
What role could James McCarthy carry out at Celtic next season?
When we look ahead to a new season, we never like to focus on the negatives surrounding particular players. Fresh campaigns ignite a renewed sense of hope for everyone in the Celtic dressing room regardless of how they performed during the 2021/22 campaign.
But you can’t get away from how difficult it is to try and do that with McCarthy. Mainly because, when looking at the role that could be there for him next season, you struggle to actually identify what that could be.
Nir Bitton and Tom Rogic have both left the club of course. That should, naturally, allow James some more minutes or at least bring him closer to the top of the pecking order. But Ange has made it clear in his squad selections this year that McCarthy just isn’t in his thinking.
Reid says that McCarthy has adapted to become a more sitting midfielder. He isn’t wrong here either. But is he of the quality we truly need for a player operating in that role? Ange isn’t a big fan of the sitting midfielder role in any case. But on the rare occasion he may decide to use it, we probably still need better.
Pre-season will tell us a lot more about McCarthy’s future at Celtic Park. He still has a whopping 3 years left on his deal, so there’s no reason to expect a swift permanent departure. Granted, how Celtic would react to a loan offer would be interesting. We’ve spoken in the past about how that would be an ideal way to go for all parties.
But for now, McCarthy needs to try and work out what he can offer Celtic in the off-season. He was, by a considerable distance, our weakest first-team signing of last summer. If he managed to turn it around from here, it would be an incredible achievement.
In other news, Israeli Report: Liel Abada set for class international achievement after 15-goal Celtic season
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
