John Kennedy has been criticised by Davie Provan for the benching of Ismaila Soro in favour of Scott Brown.
Brown has already announced that he’ll be leaving the club this summer to join Premiership rivals Aberdeen. This was news that was announced back at the end of March [BBC]. Since then, however, Broony has started every single game for the club as we close in on a highly-disappointing campaign.
It was a touch understandable when Celtic were still fighting for trophies. However, that all ended when we were ousted out of the Scottish Cup by Rangers last Sunday. Kennedy didn’t get the memo however, as Brown was still in his starting XI for a meaningless dead-rubber against Aberdeen on Wednesday night.
And Provan has hit out at the decision given Brown’s ideally long-term replacement – Ismaila Soro – was left rooted to the bench.
Speaking in his Scottish Sun column, Provan said: “No harm to John Kennedy, an impressive individual, but what was Scott Brown doing in his team at Pittodrie? Fine if he’d signed up for next season, but he’s offski. He’s effectively an Aberdeen player now.
“With second place secured and four dead rubbers left, why was Ismaila Soro parked on the bench in midweek? For the life of me I can’t see the logic. Brown’s service to the club probably deserves a lap of honour, but not at the expense of game-time for a talent like Soro.
“Benching the 22-year-old in favour of a departing veteran? So much for the future.”
John Kennedy seems likely to make the same mistake at Ibrox next week; Davie Provan right to question it
You could argue that it would’ve been different had Soro shown himself to be a poor player. A footballer who would struggle to replace Brown in the long-term and hadn’t shown anything since signing from Bnei Yehuda in 2020.
The reality couldn’t be any more different. He was arguably even more effective than the captain back when he was given a run in the team in December and January. Only to of course suddenly be dropped by Neil Lennon at the first opportunity possible for Brown.
Now, there’s no reason not to be playing the Ivorian. Brown is off in three games. He isn’t the future of the club anymore. Meanwhile, Soro is the man who looks best placed to take his position next season. This is something we’ve been battering on about on 67HailHail for a long time.
What’s even more frustrating is that these are high-profile games Soro is missing out on. Not that he needs to prove much to a Celtic support wowed by him only four months ago, but getting regular minutes in these fixtures would stand him in good stead for next season.
There’s of course still time for Kennedy to give Soro the minutes he deserves. With a game at Ibrox coming up next week and a trip to Easter Road also on the agenda before the end of the campaign – there are still tough fixtures remaining.
But don’t bank on the interim boss making the change. After strangely calling Brown’s lacklustre performance at Pittodrie “excellent” [Daily Record], he’s set himself up to give Brown yet another start in Govan.
In other news, we discuss the season-ticket trick of 2019 that Celtic can’t pull on fans again.
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