It’s do or die for Celtic as the post-split fixtures arrive.
Yes, Kelechi Iheanacho netted a brace in the Scottish Cup semi-final over the weekend, but that still doesn’t mask the underlying issues Celtic have in the striker department.
Pat Bonner wanted to highlight Celtic’s call to sell Adam Idah last summer to Swansea City, and how that has now proven to be a ‘mistake.’
“They sold Adam Idah, looking back on it now, that was probably a mistake,” stated Bonner.
“But they were getting decent money for him. £7 million, did they spend £9 million, so they got their money back. They went for the money rather than thinking about what they are going to do going forward.”
Celtic sold Idah to Swansea for an initial transfer fee of ‘£6 million’, after signing him for just under £10 million the previous summer.
But was it a mistake?
Would Adam Idah have hit 20 goals this season had he stayed at Celtic?
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Pat Bonner bemoans Celtic striker options after Adam Idah sale
Even with Iheanacho scoring goals whenever he plays, he has still been a major pain in the backside because he can’t stay fit and play 90 minutes.
That’s an issue Martin O’Neill has to deal with, while the rest, from Tomas Cvancara to Junior Adamu, just aren’t impressing one iota.
That’s why Bonner was telling BBC Radio Scotland that it’s baffling a club the size of Celtic have put themselves in this situation, given the greats they have had over the years.
“It’s incredible to think that Celtic, when you compare all the great strikers they have had over the years,” said Bonner.
“People that we lauded. People that we talked about. People who have gone down in history, and they haven’t gone one at this moment in time. That’s been the way since Kyogo left. Even before that, we were saying that they needed another one to come in alongside Kyogo. It’s quite incredible.
“They sold Adam Idah, looking back on it now, that was probably a mistake. But they were getting decent money for him. £7 million, did they spend £9 million, so they got their money back. They went for the money rather than thinking about what they are going to do going forward.
“They brought Adamu, but he hasn’t done anything since he came in, so they have had opportunities to rectify it, but they haven’t done it. That’s where they are stuck. It’s incredible that we are talking about the deficiencies in the Celtic team of a key striker.”
Celtic’s goalscoring decline
When you also take into account that the proven stars have fallen off a cliff, such as Daizen Maeda, then it has made matters worse for the champions of Scotland.
It’s a reason why Celtic are heading into the post-split fixtures in a three-way title race.
In years gone by, Celtic would have had the title wrapped up by now, and a bit more. In years gone by, Celtic would have had players scoring for fun.
That is no longer the case, and it’s displayed in the numbers. These are just the Premiership numbers, stats provided by Sofascore:
- Matches (last season’s numbers in brackets): 33 (38)
- Goals scored: 59 (112)
- Goals per game: 1.8 (2.9)
- Goals from inside the box: 50 (94)
- Goals from outside of the box: 9 (16)
- Penalty goals: 5 (8)
- Total shots per game: 16.7 (18.7)
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