Livingston manager Gary Holt has warned goalkeeper Liam Kelly regarding any proposed Celtic move.
The Hoops were this week linked with the Livi number one. Kelly has recorded a cool 17 clean sheets for the side currently sitting ninth in the Scottish Premiership.
The link comes with Celtic set to lose a goalkeeper in the summer in Dorus de Vries. The Dutchman is out-of-contract at the end of the season, and any new deal seems highly unlikely. De Vries has made just 15 appearances for Celtic, so any chance of an extension to his stay would be a surprise.
But that hasn’t stopped Holt from warning Kelly about a move to Glasgow. Speaking in the Daily Record, Holt warned his number one that the grass isn’t always greener at the bigger club.
“I’ve always said that teams only want your good players. So it shows what Liam is doing. But he is playing football and he has only played 30-odd games at this level.
“So it’s something Liam will have to weigh up as well. He has got to think about what’s best for his career. He took the choice to come here because he wanted to play, so he will want to continue that. You don’t want to take a knock in your career by going somewhere maybe as a number two fighting for the number one.
“He could have stayed at Rangers. I’m sure other boys could stay at clubs and pick up money but not play, not have a career. If you come here you will get a chance to play football if you are good enough and want to work hard enough.”
Any offer would leave Kelly with a big decision
For Celtic, there are absolutely no negatives to this deal. They would be getting a solid Premiership goalkeeper who has a fine shutout record in his first full season in the division.
He would rival Craig Gordon as number two, and Celtic would most certainly have the best stack of goalkeepers in the league by some distance.
But Holt is right. Kelly has to go to a club where he’s going to play regularly. Whether he’ll get that at Parkhead is highly questionable, and many of our supporters probably wouldn’t be too impressed considering he’s not proven he’s any better than Scott Bain.
Just look at the likes of Lukasz Zaluska and Logan Bailly, for example. Zaluska especially came from Dundee United where he impressed playing week-in, week-out. He then came to Parkhead and made only 51 appearances in six years of football at the club.
Kelly would have to seriously trust his own abilities if he came here. He’s only 23, so there is plenty of time for him to develop and be a Celtic number one. But Holt has a point, would Kelly truly come here and play regularly? It’s highly doubtful to say the least.
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