Yes I know – many of you have seen me calling for Celtic man Albian Ajeti to start on Sunday and are likely considering removing yourself from the page.
But hear me out first. It’s not as ridiculous as it initially sounds.
We’ve all watched the last three Glasgow derbies. Well, the vast majority of us have I’m sure. Celtic have been the better team in two out of the three, and have created the better chances in all of them.
What’s let us down most outside of shocking defending from cross balls is our failure to find the net. We’ve been so profligate in the final third, with Odsonne Edouard, in particular, messing several brilliant opportunities.
Next Sunday’s game shouldn’t have Edouard anywhere near it. It’s effectively a dead rubber. The only thing we’re truly playing for is pride and a chance to end their unbeaten league run. And with Edouard entering the final 12 months of his contract and therefore almost certainly departing in the summer? Why play him?
If we’re going with freshness, some would say Leigh Griffiths should start in Edouard’s place. He should, but he can’t play as a lone striker and that’s been proven in the past. Griff is at his best with a partner, and therefore Ajeti should be thrown in along with him. He can easily replace Mohamed Elyounoussi, another who performed woefully at Ibrox two weeks ago.
A big performance next week gives Celtic man Albian Ajeti a big boost for next season
Ajeti has played, in total, 1,201 minutes for Celtic this season. That’s the equivalent of less than 14 matches. In those games he’s managed six goals and four assists in all competitions. So 10 direct goal contributions in less than 14 games – not bad when you read it like that [Transfermarkt].
But we won’t pretend he’s been a success. In fact, the Swiss forward has been one almighty failure. For whatever reason he isn’t getting games regularly. And on the odd occasion he has been given a few outings? He’s largely struggled to impress. That’s just fact.
However, the bigger picture has to be taken into consideration here. We’re going to be highly reliant on Ajeti to start on fire next season and have a good pre-season. He’s our most expensive striker and still carries tremendous pedigree with Basel.
Starting him at Ibrox and seeing him become the matchwinner, thus ending Rangers’ invincible league run, would be a massive shot in the arm for him. He would become an instant hero amongst the Celtic support. Most importantly, it would lift his morale ahead of arguably his most important year as a footballer. A big season for him next year and the sky’s the limit once more. A poor one? Celtic won’t persist with him much longer.
He’s best known for being a goal poacher. Our biggest failure against Rangers has been our inability to put chances away. All the while you could still keep the diamond shape that has created so much against Rangers, just with a different front two.
If we’re building for next season, it’s time to play the players who are going to be here. Last week’s 1-1 draw with Aberdeen was a prime example of why we should do just that. Ajeti falls into that category, and he needs a big performance more than most.
In other news, think Ryan Christie has no value to Celtic? You’re looking at it from the wrong perspective.
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