Celtic winger Luis Palma has come under the microscope after failing to catch fire in the Bhoys’ 5-2 victory over Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup last week.
On a day when Brendan Rodgers’ men booked their place at Hampden against Aberdeen in the semi-final, they had to work for their reward against a spirited opponent who held the lead on two separate occasions.
In his first start of the season, Palma didn’t have his best performance and couldn’t provide inspiration off the left flank before being substituted on the hour mark.
Admittedly, he wasn’t the only one who struggled to hit top gear against Falkirk, but his display has generated the most conversation out of the fringe men given a chance to sign.
Leaping to his defence, Marvin Bartley has spelled out why criticism of Palma’s efforts has been over the top from some quarters.
Marvin Bartley offers sympathetic verdict on Luis Palma
Speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, Bartley noted that several of Celtic’s fringe players didn’t make the most of their opportunity to work their way into Rodgers’ thoughts.
He explained: “I think to say somebody’s done is extremely harsh; it’s not very easy to come in and try to impact a game. One thing I would say, I think when you play for Celtic Football Club, regardless of how well Falkirk are doing, they’re a Championship team, so when you do come into that team, whether you make eight changes, make 11 changes, you have to be better than Falkirk.
“I just felt some of the players that came in struggled too much. It is a situation now where you would be nervous putting three or four of them in because their standards have to be higher than what they currently were in Sunday’s game.
“Outside of a few, Bernardo came in, and it was seamless. If he can do it, other players can do it. But no, you can’t say somebody’s done off the back of that.”
Luis Palma will get other chances to stake his Celtic claim
Palma will be relied upon again for Celtic; there is a long season ahead, and definitively judging someone who has played just 106 minutes of competitive football at club level this term would be highly unfair.
Where he stands in the pecking order on the flanks is up for debate, but it only takes one moment of magic from the Honduran international to turn current perceptions on their head.
Celtic will always be a club with high standards. There is also an elevated level of expectation when pulling on green and white; that has always been the case.
However, the club opted to keep Palma despite approaches from Ligue 1 and Bundesliga sides during the summer. Reading between the lines, the 24-year-old is someone who will get other chances to prove his worth over the coming months.
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