James McFadden in brutal Michel-Ange Balikwisha write-off as Celtic preference made clear

Add as preferred source on Google

Michel-Ange Balikwisha was a long-term Celtic target.

The former Belgium youth international winger, who is also eligible for DR Congo, was first sounded out by Brendan Rodgers last summer.

The Hoops boss finally got his wish in the recent transfer window, throwing Balikwisha straight in to start for his debut at Ibrox.

The 24-year-old didn’t show a great deal in his first outing, with some pundits surprised at his lack of directness.

He moved over to the right side for his second appearance against Kilmarnock last weekend – and for one pundit, he won’t be starting the next fixture against Partick Thistle.

Celtic won’t play Michel-Ange Balikwisha on the right again says James McFadden

Balikwisha was replaced by James Forrest after less than an hour at Rugby Park, having again struggled to make an impact.

Sebastian Tounekti, playing on the other side, earned man-of-the match for an exciting debut performance in Hoops.

READ MORE: Stiliyan Petrov answers Celtic title race question as Rangers and Hearts calls made

For James McFadden, speaking on Open Goal, there was a pretty clear difference between the two – and Balikwisha faces getting benched at Firhill.

Asked about what helped Celtic in the match, McFadden brutally replied: “I think having the wingers – or winger – in has definitely helped.”

“With Tounekti, you’ve got a guy that wants to stretch the game and take people on and create. I think that helps and then creates space for runs from midfielders getting forward, or full-backs overlapping or underlapping.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do on the right. Is Iheanacho going to come in with Maeda on the right hand side?

“I think so, because I don’t think Balikwisha will be seen on the right again. And he’s not going to play on the left, because Tounekti looks really good.

“So I would imagine that Maeda will go to the right, Iheanacho will play as the striker, and you’ve got that stretching of the game.”

It may be a harsh write-off after just two Celtic appearances, but Rodgers needs an instant impact to help his attack, and can’t afford to be too patient.

How will Celtic line up against Partick Thistle?

McFadden’s scenario of moving Daizen Maeda to the right to accommodate Kelechi Iheanacho up-front could be awkward.

Particularly because Maeda has just had a player of the year campaign playing between the left-wing and striker positions, and showed what he can offer through the middle by opening the scoring.

Could Tounekti be moved to the right to allow Balikwisha to operate in his preferred position? This could just throw up the same problems.

Time will tell whether Balikwisha can hit form – fans will certainly be showing him more patience than McFadden.