Yesterday, the youth team played, and Daniel Cummings scored a very good goal. I watched the whole game, and he definitely has something about him. But whether it’s enough to convince the manager and the club remains to be seen. We are undoubtedly on the lookout for a third striker to bolster the squad. Whether this kid will be promoted or whether Johnny Kenny will be the one is a question that will be answered in January.
What’s clear is that Cummings is a very good player who knows where the net is. He took his goal very, very well and was by far our sharpest player in the final third. However, while he has goals in the Youth Champions League, Kenny has goals in the Conference League, and that’s the difference. Kenny is playing at a higher level against fellow professionals, and he’s more ready as a consequence. That might ultimately be the deciding factor.
Decisions need to be made all around, including one from Cummings himself. If he wants to stay at Celtic, the door will be open for him, and I’m sure opportunities will come later in the season. It’s unlikely to happen immediately, but the chance will come eventually.
For everyone who complains that we don’t offer kids a pathway into the team, I have one question: with the title race still open, a cup final ahead, and European football still on the agenda, which of our two strikers would you want to drop to give a raw youth a start?
This is a brutal, unforgiving, and often harsh business. Football is the ultimate meritocracy. The Celtic manager is contractually obliged to pick the side he thinks can win the game. That’s his sole mandate, and his record shows he’s getting more right than wrong.
We all want to see academy prospects come through. Everyone feels the same about this, and it’s been a frequent topic of conversation.
It even came up on the latest podcast. But no club would spend millions of pounds on transfers if its backup players were ready to step in and do the job just as well. No club wants to spend big on foreign players when academy talent can develop into first-team stars. The so-called failure of the pathway is not unique to us—most clubs face the same issues.
Cummings, at least, looks like he has potential.
But what he has and what he can do with it are still unknowns, even to him. He took his goal well and has clear talent, and our success in the Youth Champions League is part of the reason the manager wants a proper look at him. Yet the contract situation clouds everything. If reports that we haven’t offered Cummings a deal are true, there may be valid reasons, including the possibility that he’s already signalled a desire to leave.
In that case, the old wisdom bears repeating: the grass isn’t always greener. Yes, he may find a club that guarantees him a starting place, but as Rodgers has said—and Ange before him—such clubs are not the ones where you challenge for titles and trophies. Winning clubs don’t guarantee anyone a starting place. That’s how they maintain high standards.
Cummings has a big decision to make, and he has three weeks in which to make it. If he hasn’t signed a deal by then, he’ll be free to talk to other clubs, and perhaps that’s what will happen. Perhaps the club will allow it. The only certainty is that we’ll soon find out.
I doubt very much that he is ready to play at Celtic first team level. A loan to a Scottish Championship club might be an option if he wishes to stay with Celtic. There needs to be a better contract situation in place on Celtic’s part with the best players emerging from the academy. That should be based on ensuring that they are on longer contracts during the important periods of development. Otherwise, it seems to be a waste of time and expense nurturing talent over possibly a 10 year period for the individuals to be free to walk away without even waiting for the opportunity to make first team level.
Surely you don’t need to drop any strikers. With five substitutions allowed, they could get some 10-15 minutes in some games. No amount of training will tell you if they are ready as it is so different from a competitive game. Also, do young player put high importance in winning trophies at the start of their careers? I don’t think so, playing regularly and improving would be my main goals.
Completely agree Dan – we must be able to give the top performers from the B team minutes in domestic games and then be clear if individuals need to go on loan for a season to get serious minutes and what that means for their future career. Even the great King Kenny did a year in the juniors and that was when we had a reserve league – and it didn’t do him any harm!!!
The promotion of youth players is since the scrapping of the reserve league(s) is, in my opinion, much more than a hit and miss than previously. That said, there can always be exceptions and I like to think that B.R. would be aware (much more aware than me) and act on these exceptions. However, we have two young and very good players (Johnny Kenny age 21 and Daniel Cummings age 18) who must want to further their careers which I hope would be with Celtic.
When I think back over 50yrs there have been many promising youngsters most of whom did not make it at our club irrespective of how good they seemed to be. Therefore, there is no guarantee but I think that playing in Eire is the ideal replacement of the old reserve league if we can reach an agreement with a suitable club i.e. Shamrock Rovers. We have Kenny at 21yrs old playing against clubs at a reasonable level of professional football and also playing in European football. We have Cummings at 18yrs playing in the B league which is what it is and with no chance of European football.
Ideally, for me, it would be Kenny as backup and Cumming, if possible, to Shamrock Rovers to further his footballing education. There would also be a case for playing in the Scottish Championship but I suspect there could be pushback from supporters of Championship teams.
Finally if had a guaranteed solution I would be a rich man.
You have to give them minutes to see if they can rise up to the level but first team football shouldn’t be a deal breaker for Cummings at 18, give him a 3 year deal and send him out on loan to a more competitive league than the lowland league. Kenny has done that and done well and I think he’s earned the 3rd striker spot. Having said that, I can’t claim to have seen loads of either of them.