This should be Reo Hatate’s final season at Celtic.
If the expected does happen in the summer, then it’s a shame how Hatate is bowing out because it’s not pretty on the eye.
James McFadden has even taken issue with how the Japan star is going about things by stating that his attitude towards Celtic has been ‘stinking’, and he is ‘constantly’ in a ‘huff.’
There came a period during Martin O’Neill’s first spell that he managed to get something out of Hatate, but McFadden thinks that’s the only time it has happened.
How much would you sell Reo Hatate for?
James McFadden hits out at Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate
Hatate was hooked off against Kilmarnock last Sunday at Rugby Park, and was then on the bench as Celtic were outclassed by Stuttgart in the Europa League on Thursday night.
On the one hand, O’Neill needs to freshen his side up and make changes, especially given the gruelling schedule.
But speaking in Open Goal, McFadden was seemingly in agreement that Hatate shouldn’t be starting, and that his body language is a major issue.
Paul Slane: “Hatate has to come out, hasn’t he?”
McFadden: “I think he had a good spell under Martin O’Neill, the first time. The rest of it, he has been terrible.
“His attitude has been stinking.”
Slane: “It looks like he has downed tools, doesn’t it?”
McFadden: “It looks like he is a huff constantly. I have been in a huff myself as a player. I don’t know what it is. Every day, all the time, I was moaning at anything. I was moody.”
Celtic’s midfield issues
With Arne Engels out injured, it puts Celtic in a spot of bother because you feel, at some point, he might have to turn to Hatate again.
There is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but he is still getting match-sharp and isn’t ready to constantly play 90 minutes.
On top of that, you can’t keep constantly playing Callum McGregor because his legs are starting to go, and he is being asked to carry too much weight in that midfield.
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