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It’s Time Celtic Dropped David Turnbull For A While.

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There were aspects of last night’s performance that were pleasing although the result overall was exactly what many of us had feared beforehand.

The midfield issues I wrote about yesterday – a partnership of two attacking players and one defensive player – were part of what went wrong.

It is becoming clear that this system isn’t good for us.

Part of the problem is that David Turnbull is way off the pace right now. He is a good young player, but he has to be a lot better than he is right now if he’s going to justify his inclusion in this Celtic team. No footballer is more in need of a spell out of the side.

Turnbull is really struggling at the moment, and I thought he was awful last night.

Not just in the shocking error he made for the second goal, but for the whole match. He’s falling into bad habits and a bad pattern and nobody playing that way should be able to just walk into this team. He needs to be taken out of the front lines for his own good.

But more, he needs to be dropped for our good, both in terms of making this team stronger and in sending a message that nobody’s place is guaranteed.

I like Turnbull a lot. But nobody on this kind of form should be in the starting eleven. We can’t be dealing with this as a sentimental issue; ruthless pragmatism is all important and that dictates that he sit at least a couple of games out.

It will do him good. It will do the team good. It will let Ange play either with two defensive midfield players or to push McGregor further up the pitch. Either would make us look stronger. Either would improve our chances of beating Aberdeen in a tough game.

Turnbull looks like a Motherwell player at the moment, and that’s a sad thing for me to write.

But he has the mentality to be a Celtic player, and he’s proved it in how he came back from his injury to secure his move.

Now he needs to find a way to reach the next level … and we can’t afford to carry him right now.

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  • scouse bhoy says:

    i agree he is off form but do not be disrespectful to the team we signed him from it was due to his performances with them that he was signed. joe mcbride dixie deans brian mclair and scott mcdonald were all signed from motherwell and did us a turn.

  • Paul Grierson says:

    Has James Forrest written a half decent blog!? Somebody needs to pinch me to make sure I’m not dreaming

    • James Forrest says:

      If you don’t like them you know what you can do, and it doesn’t involve being on here reading them.

    • Dora says:

      Loved JFs blogs throughout the years but if you don’t fancy them, snap out of it and go read the wangers Int footy klub blogs….barrel of Larfs there for sure..!!

  • Bob (original) says:

    When Ange was appointed, the club was in a terrible mess.

    Just been dropped by Howe, numerous players agitating for a move, no idea of when new players would come in – and an incoming manager who was completely unknown to many supporters, including myself.

    At that time, I had written off this whole season – or maybe with the possibility of a cup win.

    But we had that period of encouraging results and style of play… but last night against decent opposition we got a painful reality check.

    Whoever came in as manager – whether Ange, Howe, or even Klopp or Ancelloti – would have been struggling in this first season of transition, IMO.

    Whatever happens this season is not the manager’s fault: any blame this season lies squarely with the incompetent Board / absentee largest shareholder.

    • Damian says:

      The problem with the largest shareholder is that he isn’t an absentee. Whenever he wants to throw his weight around, he opens his Big Book of Irish-based-or-linked Solutions and does what the hell he likes.

  • jrm63 says:

    Yes I think it comes down to Rogic or Turnbull especially away from home and with two wingers. That makes for a soft centre to say the least. The key issue is mentality. When Betis pulled a goal back I knew we were beaten. Same with last night. The two centre halves are left open, but they cannot transition the ball from defence to attack quickly enough as well. He may have to put Bitton back in there (not ideal I know) if he wants to play this style. If we stopped missing from 6 yards that would help enormously too.

  • Damian says:

    He’s a number 10, perhaps a number 11 on the left of a 4231, where he played most often for Motherwell. Ange is wedded (so far) to a formation and system which needs two number 8s from a squad that doesn’t have any. The now long-travelled experiment of playing two pure number 10s in those 8 roles has surely seen its time. There are other options. Soro would be a better makeshift 8 for Ange’s system than Turnbull. If McGregor is fit, play McCarthy or Bitton (right now, I’d play Bitton) in the 6 and push the captain up. Turnbull is a 10. Our system doesn’t really want any of those and we can’t possibly use more than one. For me, Rogic is the better of the two as a 10, but both can have a part to play. I certainly agree with the thesis of the article.

  • Mark B says:

    McGregor must be moved forward he is brilliant more forward. Rogic has not kicked a ball in two years he is not fit in my view and needs to be sold. Buy a defensive midfielder. Oh and a left back and centre half.

    • Damian says:

      We need a number 8, box-to-box energetic type. The system we’re playing needs two of them, we have zero at the club.

  • Tommy McQuillan says:

    He’s been poor the last few games but Rogic has been worse in my opinion. Celtic have to back Ange big style in January and that’s if the league isn’t already over by then. I have a funny feeling though that the criticism the board received for holding on to Lenny too long last season they might panic and show Ange the door. Tomorrow at Aberdeen is already a must win for both clubs and if we lose tomorrow a lot of our support will call for Ange’s head. I hope he’s given time but with every defeat his jacket’s on a shoogly nail. I see a lot of our support thinking he’s out of his depth I don’t hold with that view and I think he’ll get it right. This rebuild will take longer than 3 months I hope he gets the time to really build something, we need patience as a support.

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