Michel-Ange Balikwisha has had a nightmare spell at Celtic ever since his big summer move as Martin O’Neill addresses the Congolese international’s lack of game time.
Celtic chased Balikwisha for the best part of two years, but the winger is yet to feature in any decent capacity in the Hoops first-team squad.
While O’Neill admits he feels sorry for the Celtic winger, the Hoops boss also conceded Balikwisha has not ‘had a proper chance’ to show what he can do.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha: flop or unfairly treated?
Martin O’Neill’s ‘perfectly honest’ verdict on Michel-Ange Balikwisha
Balikwisha has made just 14 appearances for Celtic this season, averaging just over 28 minutes per game.
Explaining his lack of game time, O’Neill told The Celtic Way, “I do feel for him a little bit, because my job is not to please everyone here at the football club.
“Listen, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think he’s had a proper chance. He certainly hasn’t had a proper chance under my time, because I thought there were other people that may be better equipped for this league at this minute.
“It might have been a different ball game if I’d had a pre-season, where I know what people can do in two or three weeks, finding out when you’re with boys every single day under a bit of sun or something.”
The startling stats behind Michel-Ange Balikwisha’s Celtic appearances
Despite making 14 appearances, Balikwisha has started just three games for Celtic since his summer move.
Out of those three starts, the winger has never completed a full 90 minutes with the most game time completed in one match was the 68 minutes Balikwisha put in during Celtic’s win over Auchinleck Talbot.
Remarkably, Balikwisha has still made two assists, which is still one more than Celtic teammate Hyunjun Yang, who has made 34 appearances and is a regular starter under O’Neill.
Will Balikwisha ever get his chance at Celtic? At this point in the season, it appears that O’Neill simply doesn’t trust him to deliver.
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