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Our Central Defensive Situation Is Farcical. Sort It Out Brendan, And Quickly.

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When we jettisoned Stuart Armstrong I had no complaints whatsoever. He had no intention of staying at Celtic past his current deal and it was imperative that we got rid of him whilst there was a chance of getting in a transfer fee.

The situation with Dedryck Boyata is far worse, because we have needlessly allowed this to drag on beyond the point where it was reasonable or even wise.

His World Cup endeavours were known of far in advance.

The chance that he would have a good tournament, and thus look good for potential suitors, was also not difficult to spot.

Whereas Armstrong was not allowed to jeopardise the overall strength of the midfield – Ntcham is a better player and Rogic signing a new deal was arguable the news that tipped the balance – we have never been as strong at centre back.

It was the one area of the pitch where we could not afford this uncertainty. That now looks as if it could spiral into a disaster. Why was this situation allowed to drag on? Marvin Compper? Look, everyone knows he’s shot. There are reputed to be reasons beyond football. But whatever the situation with him is, that’s a waste of money and we’re never going to get anything out of him. Simunovic is injury prone. And Boyata might need to be sold.

This is farcical. We’re in this situation because we have a manager who doesn’t seem to realise that the defence is not up to the job of playing Champions League football and because we have a board that has not gotten out the cheque book since we signed Edouard. Simunovic’s ban puts us in a difficult spot. If Boyata won’t sign a new deal then he’s got to be punted. Are we really going to trust this season to the current crop of players at the back?

And as yet there’s still no backup for Kieran Tierney.

The next Champions League signing deadline is fast approaching. And we seem to be focussed overmuch on a deal to sign a soon-to-be Manchester City youth who plays in a position where we might not be over mighty but where there isn’t exactly a crisis.

Sensible team-building has been non-existent in this window.

We’re down to the bare bones at the back and the chances are good that Boyata is for the off. You have to wonder how the Hell we ended up here. It is a joke. It’s time people at Parkhead got the finger out, and I’m getting sick and tired of writing sentences like this.

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