Paul Lambert has delivered his verdict on Benjamin Nygren at Celtic and some fans could see it as being rather harsh.
Nygren arrived at Celtic for £1.3m as a relatively unknown midfielder. But since his move, the attacker has become a mainstay not only in Martin O’Neill’s starting XI, but also for the Swedish national side.
However, Lambert has warned the 24-year-old that despite his scoring record last season, Nygren still needs to up the ante on his performances for the Parkhead club.
Should Benjamin Nygren have been nominated for PFA Player of the Year?
Paul Lambert warns Nygren about being ‘mediocre’ at Celtic
Paul Lambert is a legend at Celtic. As well as stopping Rangers’ bid for 10-in-a-row, he also led Celtic to their first treble and European final since the Jock Stein era.
However, his comments on Nygren may seem harsh to the Celtic support as Lambert compares his performances to that of Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney.
Lambert told the Daily Record, “The problem with him is his consistency. You know what you’re getting from Callum and Kieran Tierney.
“But some of the lads now, they’ll hit one in five or six. It’s not consistent enough and Nygren falls into that. Even though he’s scored 21 goals, it’s the consistency level you have to perform.
“You can’t play mediocre at Celtic. You have to be bang at it every single week.”
Comparing Nygren to established first team players like McGregor and Tierney is extremely harsh considering it’s only his first season at the club and McGregor and Tierney have had years of experience at Celtic.
Lambert cannot brush past Nygren’s title-winning Celtic goals
As Lambert rightly points out, Nygren scored 21 goals for Celtic last season. Without them, the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup trophies would not be sitting in the Parkhead trophy cabinet right now.
That number of goals from an attacking midfielder is a great return on a £1.3m investment, especially as Celtic fans are constantly told that the hardest thing to do in football is to score goals.
Put it this way. Daizen Maeda only came alive for Celtic in the final five games of the season and scored 17 goals, was he ‘mediocre’ too?
No one is saying Nygren is perfect, but the comparison to two Celtic legends and the inference that he has been ‘mediocre’ is very, very harsh.
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