Is it safe to say Nir Bitton is now fifth choice in Celtic ranks?

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Nir Bitton had been going through something of a renaissance under Brendan Rodgers, but is it safe to say that’s stopped now?

Bitton had been out for the entire first half of the season with a long-term injury. But, after the winter break, he made an incredible return to feature in six of Celtic’s 11 matches before Rodgers departed.

He then managed to continue his run of game-time under Neil Lennon. Starts against Hearts, Hibernian, and Aberdeen were a vote of confidence from the manager in the Israeli.

Yet, particularly in his last outing against the Dons, Bitton was poor. He was far too slow in the centre of midfield, and the tempo of Celtic’s play suffered in large part because of him.

Granted, Olivier Ntcham’s return hasn’t exactly had a great effect either. He didn’t appear in Saturday’s 0-0 home draw with Livingston, showing that his outing three days previously against St Mirren wasn’t anything to shout about.

Not ahead of many others

All of a sudden, however, it looks as though Bitton has been thrown back to fifth choice. Assuming Lennon more often than not goes for two central midfielders, the likes of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie, and Ntcham are surely all ahead of Bitton.

The former Ashdod’s man renaissance came during injuries to Ntcham and Christie. But now, it’s looking like a tough ask for Bitton to add to his eight appearances between now and the end of the season.

Of course, he has been doing rehab work in recent times. That won’t have helped his chances, but it’s difficult to make a case for him as being ahead of any of the central midfielders mentioned.

Celtic aren’t going to be in a game between now and the end of the season where they need a player like Bitton. We don’t need an extra defensive-minded midfielder with the opposition we have in Scotland. Having Brown sweep things up in front of the defence has proved more than sufficient throughout the years domestically.

So where does Bitton now fit into all of this? Is he now fifth choice? Or will he benefit from Lennon’s rotation system between now and the end of the season? Let us know how you feel on Bitton’s Parkhead situation.