Nice Experiment Ange, But Celtic Cannot Go With Turnbull Up Front Tomorrow.

When I saw the team at the weekend I wondered what the Hell formation we were playing.

The second the game kicked off I understood it completely.

David Turnbull up front.

Well, with Kyogo out of the team he is our top scorer, so I saw what lay behind the selection … but it obviously didn’t work. It’s an experiment. It’s been tried. Let it never be tried again.

This kind of thing was the undoing of Lennon, and really, when there are fit strikers, even when they are from the academy, waiting to be played we should never be playing a midfielder out of position in that role.

I would have understood an attacking winger, like Abada or Forrest who have played there before in their careers and done well … but not an attacking midfielder.

This was tested to destruction under Lennon with Ryan Christie.

It failed. It will nearly always fail, because attacking midfielders don’t have the skill-set to play as strikers. Turnbull works better outside the box when he doesn’t have to make the split second decisions genuine forwards do.

I said in an earlier piece that Man City had won a Premiership with no strikers; but they had attacking wingers/inside forwards playing in the striker role because those guys make their living playing on the edge of defenders and finding space to go by them.

Players like Turnbull just don’t have the right talents.

And besides, playing him there means we’re relying on Rogic alone to create something from in front of the defence; Turnbull playing there alongside him opens up those crucial spaces.

It’s why we scored six goals in the two games following Rogic’s return and the stabilisation of the system.

We have enough problems if we don’t have a recognised number 9. It makes no sense to weaken the attacking midfield element of the side at the same time.

Turnbull himself looked pretty uncomfortable in the position … he knows he’s not built for it.

So come on Ange; the idea has been tried. Surely you can see that it’s not the way to play the match at Ross County where they will put eleven men behind the ball.

Give Abada the central role, stick Juranovic wide right along with Ralston if no-one else is fit and rebalance the attacking midfield. Or better yet, promote one of the B team forwards.

But David Turnbull is not, and never will be, a centre forward.

Having seen that, it must be obvious that there have to be better options.

Any other option.