Celtic reaction: Carl Starfelt may be first of four, farewell the flag, scourge of big two

Celtic's Carl Starfelt battles with Ross County's Alex Samuel.

Celtic’s 4-2 opening day win over Ross County was overshadowed by Brendan Rodgers’ revelation that Carl Starfelt appeared on his way out of the club.

The day prompted thoughts on that and other less weighty matters, as we go through three “extras” from the match at Celtic Park:

Starfelt may be first of four

In his sit-in with newspaper reporters last week, Brendan Rodgers stated he had no concerns over the bloated nature of his squad – it could be claimed there are 34 senior possibles – because it would have a “natural feel” by the end of the window. How that work out in practice remains to be seen, but the impending departure of Carl Starfelt he revealed publicly in his County post-match, for Celtic Vigo according to reports, is likely to be the first of a number of familiar faces parting the ways with the Scottish champions.

Rodgers said the other day that no player had pushed to leave. Reo Hatate has consistently been linked with moves down south, though, and the fact that he started on the bench alongside Starfelt on Saturday might tell its own story. Two-goal David Tunrbull’s elevation to first XI status at the weekend could perhaps not prove unrelated to the Celtic manager’s need to shape his team in a manner that does not rely on contributions from Hatate. The Japanese midfielder having cut a distracted figure across pre-season.

It was notable, too, that Sead Haksanbanovic did not feature in Celtic’s matchday squad for the club’s Premiership opener. He also failed to appear on the pitch – as 23 other players did – in James Forrest’s testimonial that concluded with a 3-2 victory over Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday evening. If the Montenegrin’s opportunities are set to prove so limited, the winger could be another to think better of hanging around at the club. It could be a similar situation for Yuki Kobayashi. Rodgers stated that he would immediately move to replace Starfelt should he complete his move in believing he required four centre-halves that would be “competitive” for minutes. Considering that, even without the Swede, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Stephen Welsh, Liam Scales and the Japanese defender are on the books, at least one of those would seem to have been deemed not currently up to the mark by the Celtic manager. Welsh and Scales could both exit, certainly, but they seem more favoured than Kobayashi, though he has had injury issues over the summer. It could be that Kobayashi is primed for a loan deal, at least.

Farewell to the flag

What happened to a small square of cloth sporting Celtic livery being hoisted up a flagpole when the club have a title triumph to commemorate? As James Forrest tugged at a rope to reveal the flag day banner in Saturday’s scenario what was tugged up a pole was a banner of the type you would see outside a car showroom. Big, square and plastic, the ‘flag’ also was plastered with sponsors’ cinch. Another former tradition bites the dust. Or droops, if you will.

Scourge of the big two

Few players in the Scottish game regularly plunder goals against the game’s big two. Formed, as if you didn’t know, by Celtic and Rangers. Jordan White is different. The has been operating in the Scottish top flight for the past four years. With his floaty header in the early minutes of the second half, the Ross County striker set himself apart from all others. White can now boast he has scored against one of Glasgow’s leviathans in each of the past four seasons. In 2020-21, while at Motherwell, he netted against Celtic. Moving to County for the next season, he scored four times in games involving Rangers. He found the net against the Ibrox team once last term then. And has now made it seven goals in such fixtures across three years.