Lennoxtown graduate Stephen Welsh has been bigged up by John Kennedy for a dominant yet quiet Celtic Park Glasgow derby display.
Welsh was making his second appearance in the fixture on Sunday after a painful derby debut back in October. That 2-0 defeat saw Welsh hooked despite him more than holding his own. He did better than that on Sunday after largely keeping Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe in his back pocket from open play.
The 1-1 draw wasn’t the three points we were after. However, it was further proof that Welsh can hack it in big-game fixtures for the club moving forward. This will undoubtedly be a big boost for any new manager appointed in the summer.
And it’s clear Kennedy is a big fan of him after working with Welsh both in both the senior and development squads.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, Kennedy said: “Stephen Welsh had a quiet game on Sunday, that’s a great thing for a centre-back. If you’re quiet then it means you are not making any mistakes. Stephen is a terrific boy, and he deserves his place in the team right now.
“He’s consistent, knows what he is doing and he understands his role. He’s a real team player, who puts his body on the line when he has to.
“He has also improved his distribution massively. His performances are getting better and better all the time. Stephen needs to stick with it and keep progressing.”
Stephen Welsh big on Kennedy for the Celtic Park gig; the pair are clearly fans of each other
As much as Kennedy enjoyed Welsh’s performance, it’s clear they have a mutual admiration for each other. After all, Welsh has already stated that he wants the interim boss to get the gig permanently.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland after the game on Sunday (21/03, 14:43), Welsh said: “I think Kendo’s doing a great job at the moment. I’ve worked with him for four or five years and he makes it easy for me to go and play. He trusts me to go and play in these games so, yes, definitely I’d like him to get the job.”
Whilst Welsh is hardly going to downplay his interim boss, you can see the respect there. So long as Stephen is continuously being picked for the first-team, he’ll be happy regardless of who the manager is.
It remains to be seen what happens with Kennedy’s future. However, that most certainly shouldn’t be in the Parkhead dugout. He’s shown already that if he’s staying at Celtic then he needs to go back into a backroom role.
As for Welsh, he’ll be anything but in the background next season. The time is now for him to show any new manager what he’s made of and why he deserves to have the back-line built around him next term. It’s not as if he’s put a foot wrong since being introduced to the first-team squad by Neil Lennon.
It’s going to be an interesting close-season, and it’s anyone’s guess as to how much Kennedy will be a part of the new regime. But if Sunday proved anything, it’s that Welsh is ready to play for Celtic whatever the occasion.
In other news, an Ireland teammate has defended Shane Duffy after the season from hell at Celtic Park.
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