The conversation following Celtic’s victory over Motherwell took a sharp turn toward the players missing from the matchday squad, particularly after a few tactical changes on the pitch.
While some expected the likes of Junior Adamu to feature, it was revealed that he, alongside Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Joel Mvuka, were nowhere near the Celtic team sheet.
Simon Donnelly noted that he had spotted the group well before the action at Parkhead started, but they weren’t involved in the usual warm-ups.
“He (Adamu) was actually running before (the game),” said Donnelly. “Him, Balikwisha, and the boy Mvuka were doing running before the game.”
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If not, who is?
Why Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Joel Mvuka and Junior Adamu were absent for Celtic against Motherwell
The sight of three high-profile recruitment additions being relegated to pre-match runs was described as a ‘damning indictment’ of Celtic’s recent transfer business, a sentiment Donnelly didn’t dispute.
You can’t even blame certain individuals because Balikwisha was signed under Brendan Rodgers, when Paul Tisdale was in the building, as Adamu and Mvuka arrived in January under Martin O’Neill.
By then, Head of Football Operations Tisdale had been booted out by Celtic, yet the same problems are rearing their ugly heads.
You can debate all day long about an individual’s quality, such as Sebastian Tounekti’s starting quality, but to have fitness issues now is just embarrassing of the highest order.
And as Donnelly stated on Clyde 1, all the players mentioned have had ‘chances at times’, so they can’t even argue against that.
Andrew MacLean: “Who do you think will take up that striking role? It changed against Motherwell. Cvancara came on. Is there an obvious option? I don’t think Junior Adamu was even on the bench.”
Donnelly: “He was actually running before (the game). Him, Balikwisha, and the boy Mvuka were doing running before the game.
“So, they weren’t even in the squad. They were doing a little bit of fitness work before a ball was kicked.”
MacLean: “That’s quite a damning indictment of Celtic’s recent recruitment.”
Donnelly: “It is. They have all had chances at times. You have to take it. There is no spare time to bleed folk in. You have to take that chance when you get it, and they haven’t. They find themselves out, at the moment.”
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