A worrying report emerged last night concerning Celtic duo Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide as the Scottish Sun claimed they’re already fighting for their Parkhead futures.
The newspaper believes that the former Sheffield Wednesday pair are not at the levels deemed capable of competing for a first-team spot.
Nobody can say this isn’t true. After all, if Shaw and Urhoghide were at the standard required, they would be in the team regularly. That’s just the truth of the matter.
But you also have to counter that by remembering their youth. Urhoghide is only 21 years of age. Shaw is a year younger. They’ve both just carried out the biggest moves of their respective careers. And it’s not as if either had a plethora of first-team experience to their name when they arrived.
They’re both under contract until 2025 and they were handed those deals for a reason. This is about developing 2 youngsters with promising raw attributes. Nobody could’ve realistically expected a major impact in the first few months.
We’re only 3 months into the season and we have reports emerging about youngsters fighting for their futures? Come on, it’s important that they’re given an appropriate adaption period into life at Celtic Park.
Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide need a lot more time to make their Celtic impact
The truth is that if we’re sitting here in 2 or 3 years and saying the same thing, fair enough. That’s when the pair can truly be judged on their Parkhead progress. But to be calling them out for not becoming major stars in their first few months? Totally unfair given the circumstances.
Ange Postecoglou has always been one to commit to youth if they’re good enough. Perhaps that’s where the concerns have arisen. After all, some will state that if the pair were of the standard required they would be in the team. That’s true to an extent, but the fact is they need to be given more time.
We’re talking about 2 players who haven’t even been given the chance to head out on loan yet. It’s clear the pair need to be playing regularly elsewhere before they can truly be judged.
After all, could we really expect Shaw to break into that Celtic midfield just now? The talent is ridiculous. Even EPL veteran James McCarthy can barely get any minutes. The same goes for the players Urhoghide is up against in the Celtic backline.
Different players and personalities can take a lot longer to settle than others. We haven’t even given this young duo 6 months and they’re being called out about their futures.
So it’s important to put all of this into context. We’re a long way away from the stage in which we should be judging them as Celtic players.
In other news, Daizen Maeda aware of transfer links amidst Celtic speculation
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