When Martin O’Neill names his Celtic team to face Hibernian, all eyes will immediately search for one name:
Kasper Schmeichel. Having faced questions for his form all season, a costly litany of errors in Celtic’s heavy defeat to Stuttgart have pushed some fans’ patience beyond repair.
O’Neill defended his goalkeeper after the game, as any wise manager would – but he still has a decision to make in the immediate aftermath.
So is there a possibility of O’Neill dropping his first-choice goalkeeper? Asked this question on talkSPORT, Jackie McNamara said: “I think there is.
“I think he’ll maybe take him out of the firing line for a bit. There’s no doubt that he’s a fantastic goalkeeper.
“He’s been good most of the time at Celtic, I think you could see from last year, with the injury to his shoulder, it had affected him.
“Whether that’s still the case, I don’t know, but it’s ones you’re expecting him to save, and he has come under a lot of criticism for it.”
Who gets the nod in goal for this weekend’s game?
Tell us why in the comments
Jackie McNamara on Kasper Schmeichel and Celtic
McNamara was a key contributor under O’Neill and knows the interim Celtic boss well.
His connections with the Irishman have got him hoping for a happy outcome for the title race… but he thinks it includes more than three teams.
READ MORE: Celtic facing Marcelo Saracchi hurdles as permanent race begins
He continued: “It is a mental season, but listen, you couldn’t rule out Motherwell at this stage.
“I really believe that. Just the way they’re playing. But listen, I’m hoping that Celtic will win the league. Obviously, it would be great for Martin.
“To come back [and achieve that], it would be some achievement. Because [of] where he started from with Brendan, then having to pick up the pieces after Wilfried.
“But it’s been a crazy season, so hopefully, they can get over the line.
“It’s been a crazy season with everything. The fans have not been happy, they’ve not been happy for a good while now.
“They’re trying to put their stuff across, there’s no Green Brigade at the games either. So there’s been a lot of things wrong this season.”
Should Viljami Sinisalo be the long-term replacement for Kasper Schmeichel?
A critical moment for Celtic’s Kasper Schmeichel
Schmeichel is facing a critical period at Celtic, having endured several months of growing scrutiny.
While his performance against Braga initially triggered fan scepticism, his recent display during the narrow victory over Kilmarnock—where he was faulted for both goals conceded—intensified demands for him to be benched.
In those circumstances, his performance in the Stuttgart defeat was exactly what he didn’t need. The Dane is undoubtedly under more intense pressure than ever before.
And with things getting ugly to a point of Schmeichel being booed by his own fans on Thursday, O’Neill may see a spell on the sidelines as the best option.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
