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This Celtic Squad Is Better Than Most Give Us Credit For

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I was asked recently if a change of manager was all that was required at Celtic Park for things to improve.

The answer is no.

There would have to be some boardroom and strategic changes too, or we’d end up with a new set of problems … but what I don’t believe is that any new boss would inherit a bad squad of players … and that’s worth thinking about.

It’s one of the reasons I am convinced that the season will end in a double triumph with us having had a fortuitous cup semi final draw.

There’s something that’s not always acknowledged here and it should be.

The problems with our team over the last few months have been about tactics and the approach to games, like the number of our players who end up out of position and trying to do jobs they’re not suited to. But analyse Celtic on the basis of the squad and something leaps out at you; there’s a very, very decent group of players there.

More than that; moulded correctly they could be very special indeed.

Look at our midfield, for example.

The frequent lamentation is that it’s too crowded.

But let me ask you; would that be an issue if the players in question weren’t good ones? If you accept that Johansen – more about him in a minute – is the weakest of them (and he was my bet for Player of the Year last season) then that still leaves you with Rogic, Brown, Bitton, Armstrong and Allan competing for the central midfield jobs and depending on where you play him you could easily include Kris Commons in that group too.

Ryan Christie can also play through the central midfield, by the way ….

The point is, very single one of those players would walk into any other team in the country, and if we’re being honest you could say the same about McGregor, Johansen himself and even Charlie Mulgrew. These guys would be guaranteed starters at any other club.

There’s not a Scottish club wouldn’t take James Forrest, who would balk at signing Mackay Steven (who when he does play well can leave the hairs on the back of your neck standing up) and who wouldn’t snap up our front men in an instant.

Which brings me back to Johansen. He was fantastic last season, and you don’t go from being that good to this bad by mistake. If you accept, as I do, that he is a decent player – and potentially a very good one – then the issue regarding him ceases to be about replacing him but becomes more about how to get him to rediscover the form that made him a must-pick.

A fully fit, fully engaged, Stefan Johansen would be an asset to any team and I thought he was certain to be our next big money export to England.

I still believe we’ve got a player there.

But I’ll tell you where I’m most interested in our development at the moment; central defence. Dedryck Boyata has had a shaky time of it but I see signs of a good player. We have to remember that this is still a very young man, and that this is his first season proper playing in the team. Simunovic looked very composed before his injury and Sviatchenko oozes confidence and even class. We need to see him on a bigger stage, to be sure, but there’s something there.

I’d like to have seen more of Janko, who all told is a fantastic prospect. Kiernan Tierney everyone knows about and could be starring for us for years to come.

Up front is where we’re short; Leigh Griffiths is one man alone. I don’t have a great deal of faith in his “strike partners”. I rate neither Cole nor the Turkish player as anything more than temporary squad fillers who ought not to be in the side next season and so a striker is a must, for example – but this isn’t a team requiring anyone to rip it up and start again or anything like that.

But that’s a single position, and easily rectified.

In short, what we have here is a very decent squad of players.

Any manager who replaced Ronny Deila wouldn’t, necessarily, have to dump a dozen players overboard or embark on a major rebuilding job.

This is a better squad than many give us credit for.

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