Lewis Morgan made another appearance in a Celtic jersey today, and confirmed that he’s not yet ready for the first-team.
The former St Mirren youngster was signed last season before being sent out on loan to the Buddies for the remainder of the campaign. The hope was that he would return to the Hoops fold ready to compete for a first-team spot.
In truth, however, there have been plenty of aspects of Morgan’s game that needs improving. For a club like Celtic who need to win on a weekly-basis, Morgan currently isn’t good enough.
He’s managed to make 10 appearances for the Parkhead side so far this term. He’s yet to net or nab an assist in any of them. Considering how consistently Celtic players have to perform, this isn’t good enough.
Against Livingston this afternoon, Morgan looked largely off the pace. He had a couple of good dribbles forward, but his final ball and shooting was woeful on the day. Added to that, there was a real lack of strength in the former St Mirren hero’s play.
That was perhaps the most surprising element of Morgan this afternoon. For a player who has spent his younger days at Scottish football’s less glamorous venues, you would expect him to have been bulked up.
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That most certainly wasn’t the case in West Lothian this afternoon. He was tasked with providing that extra bit of flair that Celtic had been lacking for the first hour. Too easily, however, Morgan was bundled off the ball without much of an effort.
If that’s Celtic’s first port of call when things aren’t going well down the flanks, they’re in trouble. Outside of Scott Sinclair and James Forrest, the Hoops need more quality down either side. As it stands, they don’t currently have that in Morgan.
That’s not to say there isn’t a very capable player in there. We’re talking about a player who made a terrific 102 appearances for St Mirren before he became 22. He’s grown well and experienced plenty of top-team football.
What he now needs is to continue that development at another Premiership club. Therefore, he could do worse than look at the likes of Ryan Christie before him.
Initially, the former Inverness Caledonian Thistle man looked far too weak to make it in Glasgow. After a productive spell at the Dons, however, he forced his way into Brendan Rodgers’ plans.
Morgan can do similar, but he simply isn’t up to the task of playing consistently for Celtic at the moment.