Now that pre-season is in full swing and our heroes are now stateside to increase the brand once more the thought of going into the Champions League with the current crop of defenders does not fill me with the utmost confidence. Especially in the centre half positions
For the record, I think we have a decent mix in defence, experience versus youth, ball players v line clearer’s but I do think we lack and experience ball playing centre half with Champions league experience.
Balde is our most experienced defender in this area, with plenty of European experience and big performances, most notably all of the one nil victories in the home games in our inaugural foray in this competition. His ball winning, especially in the air were a vital key in our home success that season but as we all now he is also prone to a cock up or to al la Lyon.
Also the fact that Bobo is incapable of cleanly striking a football with either foot is a worry. More often than not his clearances go straight up in the air and he then has to frantically win a header, which often has the result of handing possession back to our opponents. We can ill afford to do this cheaply in Europe.
Pressley is our second most experienced centre half, although he doesn’t have a lot of European experience. Elvis is probably a lot more comfortable than Bobo with the ball at his feet and still has a little pace to work with but the fact that he continually gets caught out in the air by players who are half the size of him is a worry.
Stephen McManus is by far the best defender we have at the Football Club, but he is not without fault. Big Mick’s reading of the game can be suspect at times and his understanding and execution of the Offside trap leads a lot to be desired. Definitely a first choice.
John Kennedy. Will he return to the great prospect he was? Early signs say yes. He has a great ability of doing everything required of him without breaking sweat; he displays great ability to read the game and always, always stays goal side of who ever he is marking.
Those abilities coupled with great tackling and being more than comfortable with the ball at his feet means he is a contender for the other starting berth. The only downside to his play is in the air. He is possibly not as commanding as either Mick or Bobo but still offers commitment. John, if fit and strong enough would become Mick’s partner. I would blend him in slowly to the team however.
Next up is the enigma that is Gary Caldwell. Undoubtedly blessed with a great passing ability and one of the calmest heads in football he never fully inspires confidence, mostly due to how calm he is under pressure. A nightmare show in Lisbon negated a great passing performance at Old Trafford, pinging pass after pass after pass right onto the chest of our wingers and forwards all evening. Looks like a stooky statue when a player runs straight at him however and got a roasting from Saha at Parkhead. Would probably complement a no-nonsense defender quite well, but I don’t see him being matched up with Bobo too often.
Darren O’Dea looks a great prospect for the future. He is a very similar player to McManus in every way. He has the same attributes and very similar faults also. If he is good enough he is old enough and I think that young Darren would deserve a start ahead of Pressley.
So all in all I think we have a great deal of depth, but little strength in depth. We have a couple of players with a great deal of experience but limited ability and we have a couple of players with a great deal of ability with little or no experience. To that end I would like us to buy an Champions League experienced centre half, someone maybe approaching the twilight of his career but still with a year or two in him to help us with this season.
Onto the subject of the backs. We desperately need cover for these positions as we currently only have on player per position. Both Willow (if he can regain his form, early indications say he can) and Naylor will be first choices this season but what happens if they get injured? Playing Caldwell at right back or O’ Dea at left back is not the answer. We need cover for these positions and we need it now! Given that Doumbe can play both flanks he would have been an ideal choice but his excessive demands have seen Celtic cool their interest in the talented right back.
So come on Gordon, lets stop looking at trialists for areas that we are already over subscribed in at the moment and start looking to shoring up that defence. You know it makes sense.
Ps a final word. Just to make you aware, Real Radio DJ called Stephen McKenna decided that it would be a good idea to end an old sixites hit called "who knew" by answering Big Jock Knew.
Details of where to complain will be added to the site later.
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt