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Celtic Fans Should Be Thrilled As Our Young Players Are Finally Emerging From The Shadows.

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Last night the manager shook up the defence as many of us had hoped he would and into the mxi was thrown the young Kristofer Ajer. It is overdue. This kid returned from Kilmarnock at the start of the season after acquitting himself very well whilst out on loan. When we signed him he had a reputation for being a combative midfielder, although he was very young. He now plays more or less as a central back. The position suits his skill-set.

Kristofer is a physically imposing player who is good on the ground and in the air. He is calm on the ball, which is more than can be said for Simunovic recently, who he replaced last night, He has a good range of passing. He is courageous. He is hungry.

He is also inexperienced when it comes to playing at a higher level; that’s something we need to see if he can do. But the signs are good when it comes to this kid doing us a turn here in Scotland. He will not let us down. His emergence from the shadows is good news.

Kristofer fits the profile. He is the sort of player we could turn into a significant football. He was sent out on loan because that did him more good than sitting in the stands would have, and I know the coaching team kept their eyes on him throughout. When this season started and Ryan Christie went back out on loan everyone assumed Kristofer would too.

That Celtic chose to keep him around Celtic Park is instructive.

Something else is equally clear and I am not too shy to point out that I predicted it on this site; the end of the unbeaten run has taken a lot of pressure off the manager in terms of his selection decisions. Ajer getting a start was one manifestation of that; another was young Mikey Johnston getting onto the pitch last night.

Brendan has long wanted to blood our young players, those who the youth system has taken as far as they can go. He wants to see what they’ve got, but he was never going to pitch them in to the high pressure environment of defending a long unbeaten run. It wasn’t about not trusting them, it was about keeping them from that kind of stress.

The run is over and so is the need to protect these kids from it. I suspect we’ll see more and more of our youth players getting a chance in the coming few months and every one of us should be celebrating that because we have some cracking footballers in those rank

We’ve already seen Kieran become a mainstay in this team and for Scotland; Ralston is next to become a sensation. Beyond him there are a handful who’ve already made first team appearances and done well in the team. Liam Henderson may well be Hibs bound, as a makeweight in a deal for John McGinn (needless to say that signing would please me) but I have not given up hope of seeing young Jack Aitchison find his way to the first team squad.

The task to crack the forward line is more than a little formidable, but he is the youngest player ever to score a first team goal for the club and he did it with almost his first shot of his debut; talk about a moment that augers well for a kid’s career, provided it doesn’t go to his head. Reports from the training pitch suggests he’s still very grounded … and keen to take any chance that comes along. We’ll see if it does before the season ends.

Few expect one of our young forwards to make the break any time soon with three top class strikers all fighting for a single place, but Brendan has proved already in his managerial career that what counts most for him is talent and big reputations be damned.

Every one of our kids who gets a chance will have a shot at keeping a place in the team if he grab hold of it and not let go. We saw the first signs last night that Brendan rates our young players and is willing to see what they’ve got.

It’s a matter of time before more are in the first team squad.

 

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