Neil Lennon may have already outlined his intentions to play some fringe players against Rennes, but it would be a huge risk if he was to go down that route.
Celtic will take on the struggling French Cup winners on Thursday night for matchday five of the Europa League. Victory for the Hoops would secure top spot so long as Lazio beat Cluj in Italy. At the very least, however, three points would see Cluj need to beat us on matchday six to overtake Lenny’s Bhoys.
There are other reasons, but this is perhaps point number one as to why we can’t afford to go with some sort of shadow side. Lennon has already stated in the Celtic View that he could give some fringe players the opportunity to face Rennes (Volume 55, Issue 19, Page 8). Here are his exact words:
“It would be great to win the group and we’ll try to finish with as many points as possible. But with the huge amount of games we have between now and the break, it’s imperative that we use the squad.
“It’s important to give players game-time at that level so the players who haven’t had a chance to play will maybe get the opportunity to play in some of these games.”
Thursday night is no friendly
The idea of using the squad sounds great, but Thursday night isn’t the time to do so. In terms of fringe players, you have to imagine Lennon is talking about the likes of Leigh Griffiths, Nir Bitton, and Lewis Morgan to name a few.
The players mentioned above fall under the category of players who would easily be able to do a job at Ross County on Sunday. Or they SHOULD be good enough at least. Making changes for that one and prioritising Rennes looks the most logical.
There’s a chance to create history for the club here. We’ve never topped a European group, and it would guarantee us an easier draw for the last-32. Since the reformatting of the competition back in 2009, we’ve never reached the last-16 of the competition.
A defeat wouldn’t look too pretty
If we were to wake up on Friday morning having just watched Celtic 0-1 Rennes, for example, it will be a morale-drainer. This also ties into our overall club image in Europe. That’s not the kind of result we want going around the continent. If we’re looking to make Parkhead a fortress again too, this result would hardly go towards helping that.
Last season, Brendan Rodgers did something similar in Leipzig when he made a host of changes. It was clear he was prioritising the Betfred Cup semi-final against Hearts at Murrayfield. Fortunately, Celtic managed to hammer Hearts 3-0, and it made the decision look like the right one.
However, you could also argue that Hearts were so bad that it was clear Celtic could easily have won it with a few changes. If Lenny needs to use the squad, Sunday’s trip to Dingwall would be the time to do it. There’s too much at stake this Thursday night.
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