When Olivier Ntcham netted a double in the Betfred Cup quarter-final thrashing of Partick Thistle in late September you kind of felt that his Celtic career may be about to get back on track.
Until that point, the Frenchman had flirted with the idea of a first-team place. His immature transfer comments during the summer had forced him to fight for a place in Neil Lennon’s side but Ntcham had slowly gone about his task in a far more dignified manner.
There was a feeling that the 23-year-old was edging his way back up the pecking order. That feeling was only amplified after his brace against the Firhill outfit.
Ntcham must fight his way back into Celtic first-team
Fast forward a round in the competition and the midfielder was nowhere to be seen against Hibernian at Hampden on Saturday. Of the eight games since his Thistle double, Ntcham has only started one – the very following fixture at Easter Road.
Lennon shoe-horned him into the side that day, moving Ryan Christie out to the left. Ntcham struggled to deal with the Leith side’s physicality and was the first Celtic man to be substituted. It seems like the gaffer hasn’t forgotten that.
Yes, Ntcham did miss a few games through injury after rolling his ankle in training. Yet there is a real feeling that neither the club nor the player are getting what they deserve from each other at present. And with a busy fixture schedule coming up before the end of 2019, that’s something we could do with changing.
If not, there’s a real chance that the former Genoa man may look to move as early as January. Ntcham is too good a player to start none of our last seven matches. He’s too talented to play 20 minutes here and 15 minutes there.
It will be really interesting to see if the Frenchman can force his way back into Lennon’s plans. He has the quality – there’s absolutely no doubt about that. His problem once again looks like it will be application.
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