Andrew Gutman’s departure from Celtic may have been low-key, but it’s actually left a glaring hole in the squad.
Regardless of the fact he didn’t play a competitive game, he occupied an important role. He was, outside of Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo, our only natural left-back still fit.
With Kieran Tierney still nowhere near a first-team return, we only have Jonny Hayes as back-up. Whilst the Irishman is always reliable in giving everything for the club, it still isn’t his main position. Defensively, Hayes has his weaknesses, and it’s still not the position he’s most comfortable in.
As it stands, we’re a left-back down on last season. With Tierney’s continued injury problems, it’s difficult to bank on him returning and being able to play consistently this season. The Scotland international has had his fair share of run-ins with different knocks, and another bad one would leave us with only Boli as a natural left-back.
Gutman’s departure takes away some of the depth we had in the position. His move to Cincinnati has taken that away from us, and it could be worth dipping back into the market to keep our depth high in the position.
Celtic unlikely to budge unless KT leaves
The latest report doing the rounds yesterday was that we were looking at Hull City’s Stephen Kingsley if Tierney leaves the club (Sun on Sunday, August 4th, page 67).
If that’s the case, it seems any new addition may still revolve around Tierney’s decision to stay or go. Bringing in another body before then just doesn’t feel likely. Gutman’s move hasn’t exactly disappointed many, but it would be interesting to get Neil Lennon’s thoughts on his depth down the left.
It still looks relatively strong enough. If we can get Tierney back fit, there really wouldn’t be a need to do so. But you have to ask question marks of just how long it will be before he’s ready to feature.
Celtic have a host of big games coming up both domestically and in Europe. If KT continues to sit out, it’s a tough ask telling Boli to play in every single one of them. But then the question pops up of whether Hayes is viewed as a decent enough alternative for higher-level opposition.
In fairness to the former Aberdeen man, he performed extremely well in Valencia last season. Therefore, that could be proof enough for Celtic that a replacement for Gutman isn’t necessary.
You get the sense Lennon has other priority areas he would rather strengthen at the moment. And, if that’s his view on things, then he would be absolutely right. Hopefully, Tierney gets back to fitness ASAP and adds some quality to the left-back fight.
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