The Celtic stalwart who's now owed a big apology by over-the-top critics

By David Walton

April 25, 2022

It appears as though Carl Starfelt is finally shutting up his critics as the negative narratives on him have finally gone silent.

The Swedish international centre-back, who signed in a £4m deal in the summer [Scottish Sun], has come under a constant siege of ridiculously unfair criticism from pundits who have seemingly randomly had it in for him since his arrival.

Davie Provan in particular has targeted Starfelt from the moment he arrived in Glasgow. Back in mid-March he hit his peak when he incredibly tried to say that the former Ruben Kazan star was Celtic’s weak link and that we had the best defence in the country despite his presence.

Alan Stubbs, meanwhile, said back in January that Starfelt hadn’t progressed and that Chris Jullien looked set to take his place [Scottish Sun].

The constant criticism, particularly during the first half of the season, led to Ange Postecoglou stating that Starfelt had been “unfairly judged” [Scottish Sun].

However, finally, there’s been a period without any calling out of the centre-back. Pundits appear to be getting off his back and he’s now being able to enjoy helping Celtic edge towards the Scottish Premiership title.

Carl Starfelt has more than earned some praise for recent Celtic performances

Yesterday, Starfelt racked up his 23rd clean sheet as part of the Celtic backline. He was dominant once again as he dealt with County’s Jordan White with relative ease.

This has been the norm this season, however. Yesterday wasn’t some sort of one-off. Starfelt has been meeting every domestic challenge head-on since the start of the year and has dominated against the top strikers in the country.

Forget the fact that his critics have gone silent. The truth is they owe him an apology instead. Not for giving their view, which everyone is entitled to do. But for going way over the top in their criticism of the player. To say his time was running out or that he isn’t Celtic class was always highly unfair given how Celtic have performed this year.

He’s bossed games against the likes of Rangers, Hearts, and Dundee United to name a few. Nothing has fazed him, and he’s certainly proven to be at a higher level than certain pundits perceived him as being at.

Now, we’re at the point where he deserves a bit of positive recognition. Not silence. Just because his critics have shut up doesn’t mean he’s getting the respect he deserves. Starfelt is entitled to think his displays should be getting more positive press, especially given the plaudits Cameron Carter-Vickers has had this season.

The truth is he shouldn’t hold his breath. One thing pundits in this country aren’t great at is apologising and admitting they were wrong. But even so, credit to Carl for everything he’s done this season.

In other news, Yet another pundit tries to rope Celtic into petty rivals issue