I watched Celtic beat Falkirk and noted one player should leave, the 17 y/o hope and Scotland candidate
Three talking points from champions victory after European woe
Celtic got back on the winning trail with a 2-1 win over Falkirk in the Premiership.
A few days on from crashing out of the Champions League, Martin O’Neill’s side were victorious thanks to a double from striker Camilo Duran.
Alan Pattullo was at Celtic Park to cover proceedings for The Scotsman and picks out three talking points:
Luke McCowan
Although Celtic v Falkirk had its moments, and the visitors more than made a game of it in the end, the game itself wasn’t the most fascinating aspect of the afternoon, far from it. Rather, it was how Celtic reacted to that midweek Champions League play-off shellacking from LASK – fans included. All eyes were on the teamsheet.
Midfielder Luke McCowan had borne the brunt of the vitriol following the 5-1 loss, having been heavily implicated in the concession of the all-important final goal that sent the Austrians through to the Champions League stage. Some doubted whether he could pull on the hoops again, such was the level of vitriol. It led the midfielder, a boyhood Celtic fan, to shut down his social media channels.
Martin O’Neill, 74, might not have felt qualified to advise about this. But he did hold the key to whether or not he should feature against Falkirk.
Although Callum McGregor was missing due to illness, McCowan did not step in as might have been expected. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came into the side, with McCowan named on the bench once more. In some ways it might have been easier had he started. It felt like a big moment when he arrived into the fray after 78 minutes to replace Oxlade-Chamberlain. There had already been a clue to what the reaction might be. McCowan emerged from the home dugout to warm up after 17 minutes to a warm ripple of applause. It was much the same when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in what were difficult circumstances again – Falkirk had just pulled a goal and there was an air of anxiety.
McCowan was neat and tidy in most things he did and Celtic saw it out. Nevertheless, who knows what the future might hold for him at the club in these last few days of the window? Might it be better for both parties if he heads off elsewhere in an effort to secure the regular football the 28-year-old needs at this stage of his career?
Although Saturday went as well as he could hope for, judging from fans’ comments online there’s clearly a not insignificant number of supporters who feel he’s a symbol of what they perceive as the club’s lack of ambition. Perhaps cutting ties is the best way forward.
Liam Kennedy
Amid all the understandable talk about the lack of young Scottish players getting minutes at all levels of football, and with a summit scheduled for this Friday in St Andrews to deal with such issues, it was good to see 17-year-old Celtic midfielder Liam Kennedy named on the bench for the first time. He is very highly thought of and was name checked by Martin O’Neill a couple of weeks ago as he assessed the player development situation at Celtic.
This was the first time the youngster has been named in the matchday squad and although he did not get on – perhaps he would have done had Celtic managed to build on their half-time lead in the second half – there will hopefully be plenty more opportunities in the future. Although O’Neill stressed he will be long gone when Kennedy begins to make his mark at the club, he clearly feels he’s ready to feature in matches now, if the circumstances are right.
Scott Bain
it is incumbent at the moment for all goalkeepers with a hint of Scottish ancestry to seek to excel as new Scotland manager Sebastien Pocognoli casts around for candidates to fill the gap left by Craig Gordon, who has retired, and place some pressure on predecessor Steve Clarke’s No 1 Angus Gunn. Scott Bain is full-on Scottish. Born in Edinburgh, he has already played four times for Scotland dating back to his debut in 2019.
He should be one of the top names on the list Pocognoli is considering for the manager’s first squad, which is due to be named in a little over two weeks. Bain will hope the Belgian wasn’t watching when he inexplicably spilled the ball on the edge of the Falkirk box just three minutes in to gift Camilo Duran the opening goal. The strange thing is, Bain actually played pretty well after this gaffe. He even helped deny the Colombian a hat-trick in the second half with a stop that while he didn’t seem to know too much about it, was a good example of a keeper simply standing up to thwart danger. The 34-year-old will hope Pocognoli is prepared to mark down the earlier gaffe as an aberration.
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