Celtic’s Champions League tie against Aston Villa brought up many topics on 67 Hail Hail’s appearance on BBC Sportsound.
Jota’s return to Celtic was spoken about as well as Kyogo Furuhashi’s Parkhead exit to Rennes as Celtic’s transfers were discussed.
Celtic’s starting XI against Aston Villa was given a going over as Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers looked to get a positive result in England.
So, with that in mind, here is every word of 67 Hail Hail’s Patrick Sinat’s discussion with BBC Sportsound on all things Celtic and their chances at Villa Park in the Champions League.
- READ MORE: Brendan Rodgers’ class Celtic answer after being told England look down on Scottish football
Big night for Hjunjun Yang for Celtic vs Aston Villa
Yang was drafted in after Daizen Maeda was suspended for Celtic’s game against Villa as the Korean comes under the spotlight.
Sinat told BBC Sportsound, “It’s probably the best that Rodgers could pick considering the circumstances that he’s been left with. Obviously, losing Carter-Vickers is a massive blow.
“I think if he’d asked me last week if I was confident in this game, I’d have said definitely. But then we lost Kyogo and Maeda is missing as well. So that’s three players that have been crucial to us this season, and who would have been crucial to the way we play.
“So it’s a big night for Yang. For me, I think there’s a player in there, but he kind of flatters to deceive a wee bit. His final product is pretty poor. He is quite brave at taking on players. But I think considering what Celtic has lost over the last five or six days. It’s probably the strongest team we can go with.”
Adam Idah needs that elusive first goal for Celtic vs Aston Villa
Adam Idah gets the nod for Celtic at Villa Park and the big Irishman just needs that first goal to get his confidence up.
“He’s a striker Rodgers likes,” continued Sinat, “He’s big, he’s strong and if you look back at previous players that Rodgers has played up front like Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard, he fits the profile. He’s just lacking in confidence, Kenny, he just needs to get that goal.
“And I felt for him last week when it looked as if he was going to finally score against Young Boys, but he obviously played a big part in the own goal. But I think once he gets that elusive goal, I mean, what is it? he’s not scored in the last 10 games? So I think for for him, it’s getting the goal. And I think we’ll see him flying like that last season.”
Assessing Celtic’s transfer window with the loss of Kyogo and addition of Jota
The transfer window has been a slow burner for Celtic but with the addition of Jota, the loss of Kyogo to Rennes has been softened.
Sinat told Kenny McIntyre, “It’s been a bitter sweet window so far, I think Kenny. I think losing Kyogo was a big blow, but that was obviously softened up a wee bit with return of Jota.
“The only issue I’ve got with is it’s going to take a bit of time for Jota to get back to the kind of player that we saw and his first spell at Celtic.
“He needs to get his fitness up and I reckon that’s going to take a good few weeks. Losing Kyogo, that’s been a heartbreaker. He’s been a talisman and he was a kind of player that brought joy to Celtic fans, especially after that COVID season where we went for being tremble champions, to losing every trophy we had.
“So if Rodgers can get in Tierney in this window and possibly another striker then I think we could sum up this window as pretty decent, considering we lost Kyogo.”
At the time of writing, Adam Idah is the star of the show as Celtic battled back from falling behind to early 2-0 deficit after the Republic of Ireland striker put Aston Villa to the sword.
If Celtic can hold on the draw or even snatch a winner then Celtic can return to Glasgow with their heads held high.
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