Whilst yesterday’s dramatic 2-1 win over St Johnstone in Perth offered answers to some lingering queries for Celtic, some burning questions are yet to be addressed, with Ange Postecoglou‘s side now deep into a huge month in their season.
Alexandro Bernabei and Sead Haksabanovic put to rest any doubts that either won’t meaningfully contribute in the short-term, both started the match and registered an assist each, with the Montenegrin in particular a constant menace in the 8 position, driving at St Johnstone’s backline and drawing a number of fouls in the second half.
Celtic also ground out a win whilst rotating some important players who have played a significant number of minutes in recent weeks, albeit in nerve-shredding circumstances, as Kyogo Furuhashi, Greg Taylor and Josip Juranovic, all of whom sat out yesterday’s win in its entirety.
The critical question that went unanswered in the Perth win is how Celtic deal with the absence of Callum McGregor, who his manager backed to return to the first-team after the World Cup, with the Scottish Premiership returning midway through December.
After going off injured in the second half in last week’s 3-1 defeat in Leipzig, McGregor was replaced by Oliver Abildgaard for only his second appearance in a Celtic jersey, with the Denmark midfielder short of minutes prior to his summer loan move from Rubin Kazan.
Matt O’Riley deputised in Perth but the Denmark U-23 international was offensively neutered by his positional shift, and looked a rather awkward fit in McGregor’s trademark 6 position – not unsurprising given the different automatisms and positional nuances required compared to the 21-year-old’s more advanced midfield role.
James McCarthy was signed in the summer of 2021 as McGregor’s natural deputy and despite his involvement in yesterday’s winner, has infrequently looked physically capable of contributing consistently in Postecoglou’s system. An argument could be made for Reo Hatate to be given a chance in this position, but hindering the Japan midfielder’s dynamism and incisiveness further up the pitch seems like a foolhardy call.
The conundrum of who fills McGregor’s role in the next month is one that Postecoglou will have to find a solution to quickly, there is arguably no more crucial a position in the Aussie’s Celtic machine, particularly in build-up from deep.
Haksabanovic’s performance further complicates the issue. Whilst the versatile attacker can play anywhere across the front, he was comfortably Celtic’s best player for much of yesterday’s game, carrying the ball into dangerous areas consistently and menacing the St Mirren defence.
With O’Riley, who has been consistently excellent in his first nine months at Celtic, sharing his position, it adds further wrinkles to a seemingly already murky quandary for the Celtic manager.
In the immediate short-term, namely Tuesday’s monumental rematch against RB Leipzig in the Champions League, it seems almost certain that Abildgaard will retake his spot as the single pivot in Celtic’s midfield. Though he lacks game-time and Marco Rose’s side will play at their typical breakneck pace, his more defensive-minded approach makes him the most likely candidate of those available.
Whether this represents a semi-permanent solution going into crucial games in the coming weeks across three competitions remains to be seen, but McGregor’s replacement is a problem that needs to solved with some urgency for the good of Celtic’s season.
In other news: Haksabanovic backs Celtic to find shooting boots before critical Champions League standoff
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