Celtic are preparing for the biggest game of the season against Kairat Almaty tonight.
The big Champions League clash will be the first step to Celtic getting access to the lucrative league phase and a huge £40m UEFA bounty.
And whilst Celtic’s transfer business, or lack of, threatens to throw a spanner in the club’s Champions League chances, that forced Peter Grant to deliver a harsh truth to Liam Scales.
The big Irishman has been excellent in the heart of the Celtic defence this season but Grant reckons he will get more game time than he should as the Hoops hero points out a brutal Champions League truth.
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Liam Scales told why Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers plays him in the Champions League
Celtic’s search for a back-up left-back led to Hayato Inamura. It’s clear Brendan Rodgers does not rate the Japanese defender as he has not featured in any of the Parkhead club’s matchday squads.
And Grant noticed that the Celtic manager seemed frustrated at that as he told Scales he is about to get more Champions League game time than he deserves.
Grant told The Go Radio Football Show, “I think you can see that. You don’t need Brendan to tell you in the interview because he’s playing Liam Scales there if Kieran Tierney comes off at any moment in the game.
“And I’m not being funny, if you go to the Champions League with Liam Scales at left back, it’s a different type of left back that Brendan would love to be playing there.
“There is absolutely no doubt of that. Inamura, I agree, he looks more like a left back than he does a centre half even though he’s a decent user of the ball.”
Peter Grant says lack of options means Scales will play for Celtic more this season
Now, to be fair to Scales, this is not a slant on him as a player but more of a criticism of Celtic’s recruitment policy.
And Grant says that is forcing Rodgers to rely on Scales more than the Celtic boss really wants to.
Grant continued, “Well, they’ll have to play Liam Scales there if anything happened to Kieran Tierney, because that is the only one [they have].
“Because there’s no Greg Taylor. I know he got a lot of criticism, but I was a big supporter of Greg Taylor. I thought he’d done an excellent job for Celtic.
“Then last year, you had Jeffrey Schlupp for a period of time, who physically could handle it. So, that was different.
“It’s not as if you’re going to put Alistair Johnson or Tony Ralston over to left back to play as a defender out there, Liam Scales is going from centre half out to play left back, which he’s done in a few games.”
Scales, even though he has his flaws, has been an excellent servant for Celtic. Even when Auston Trusty was brought in for £6m, the Irishman has managed to keep his place in the team.
At left back, having Scales there is not ideal but after Inamura impressed in Celtic’s pre-season, why is he now not deemed good enough to play under Rodgers?
It’s a question that’s on the lips of every Celtic supporter alongside this one. If Inamura was never going to be part of the plans, why did Rodgers sanction the move?
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