Kris Commons isn’t fit at the moment.
He’s just back in training and is on the way back, but he’s not yet ready for the first team squad. Come the European games though he might well be. But that won’t matter. Commons isn’t in the squad. The manager has dropped him from it entirely, and some say that’s not a good sign for the goal scoring midfielder.
I do think Commons is done and that it would be better for him to move. I think he’s destined to leave like Mulgrew before him. The dressing room clear-out is underway, and it’s not a coincidence that one of the big names, the veterans, has gone first.
That’s very deliberate. That’s part of the plan.
Every one of us heard stories about dressing room unrest whilst Ronny was there and everyone’s aware that Commons was one of the players whose name was frequently mentioned. True or false, he is a big personality in the dressing room and so too was Charlie, who’s deputised as captain for Celtic and Scotland in the absence of Brown.
These guys are leaders. Leaving Commons out of this squad, even when he was included in the first two rounds despite not being fit, is symbolic if nothing else. I think it sends a message, and I wonder if Commons will find himself back in the squad even when fit.
I strongly suspect that he won’t. The only reason he’s not already moved on is, I think, because of his injury. He might well end up at Hibs; Neil has a real affection for him and knows what he can do as a player. He would be a great asset to their squad and ours has to move forward.
If the dressing room really was divided into cliques Brendan is determined to sort it out and show everyone who runs things.
Even if Commons winds up staying I doubt he’ll play more than a handful of games, deputising, perhaps, on occasions when we have injuries. Brendan could have been hesitant about making such a radical decision, and he knows he’ll be second guessed, but he has forged ahead anyway.
Brendan is showing his claws. It hasn’t taken him long. There are signs that our transfer policy has definitively changed. The playing style has. Mulgrew was widely tipped to win a new deal, but he hasn’t. Forrest was widely tipped to be on the way out, but he’s still here. Rogic, who hasn’t signed a new deal, has found himself warming the bench and now Commons looks like he might be heading for the exit. Nothing with Brendan is predictable.
Our club is being transformed.
Brace yourselves for more changes to come.
In Brendan We Trust.
You can now follow The CelticBlog on Twitter at @The_Celtic_Blog