On a day Celtic remain unscathed in the Scottish Premiership title race, we can’t be too critical of the team that has brought us to this point – but a couple of issues have undoubtedly arisen from today’s match at Ibrox.
As a collective, the Bhoys didn’t deserve to lose the game. They earned a point, which was a fair result over the entire 90 minutes. Individually, there were some slack performances, and none more so though than Josip Juranovic’s.
The Croatian is a man in the spotlight right now considering all the noise around a potential transfer and his impressive displays at the recent World Cup. On his return to Celtic action today he was well off the pace.
First of all, it’s important to note that he was thrown into the game in an unnatural position and immediately had to warm to the task of going up against a pacey Fashion Sakala – but it’s reasonable to be concerned about what we saw from him in the 2-2 draw.
In the past, Juranovic has performed well for club and country at left-back, so it’s not a completely alien position for him to play and certainly not the sole reason for what we witnessed today.
He became a target for Rangers as they overturned a goal deficit and his defending could be best characterised as ‘all over the place’, overwhelmed in the build-up to both Ryan Kent’s effort and Carl Starfelt eventually conceding a penalty.
In the context of all the transfer rumours around a departure and his rejection of an improved contract, it’s far from an ideal situation and will naturally lead some to question how long he remains at Celtic. He just hasn’t followed up his debut campaign with consistency this term. Some won’t consider it a coincidence.
At this point, it’s looking smart for the Bhoys to cash in at some point this January if teams are truly willing to put cash on the table and make a bid – which hasn’t happened yet.
If his performances are going to be affected by all this, it’s best we pursue a future with Alistair Johnston and other full-backs rather than risk regression. Selling players at peak value is all part of the grand Celtic plan over the next few years.
That may well feel harsh considering Juranovic became a fan favourite during last season’s title win, but football can be brutal and it’s not as if the Croatian is coming to come out badly of a big money move. It’s not a case of bombing Juranovic out – it seems he wants to go.
Ange Postecoglou must protect the collective push forward for Celtic improvement and, right now, I’m not sure the Croatian is part of that.
In other news, “That just killed the season”; BBC Sportsound pundit thinks Celtic just ended Rangers challenge.
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