Celtic’s transformation this year has ben one of the most incredible stories in club football the world over. Sure, the Bhoys have dominated Scottish football for much of this decade, but this team is on a whole different level in 2016-17.
A big part of that is Celtic’s relentless attack under Brendan Rodgers. He’s emphasized playing from the outside in and has seen players like Kieran Tierney and James Forrest become household name amongst the Celtic faithful.
However, Forrest may not be ready for this weekend’s clash with Sevco, and if the last few weeks have been a good indicator, the right wing position is in need of an upgrade heading in to this match.
Forrest’s injury hurt, but it also emphasized just how important Manchester City-loanee Patrick Roberts has been to the Bhoys campaign. He has been missing the past few weeks as well and that resulted in Liam Henderson and Gordon Mackay-Steven stepping in to the fold.
GMS is no doubt a fan-favorite for his good nature and upbeat spirit, but he hasn’t been living up to the level expected of starters. Henderson is young and still growing, but likely not an every-game player for the Hoops.
That much was made very clear last weekend, as Roberts returned to the Celtic bench and his entrance in to the game was immediately noticeable. A game that was stagnant suddenly came to life for Celtic.
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It was no coincidence that Roberts’ ability to bomb down the right side of the pitch and create one-on-one opportunities was to Celtic’s advantage.
Despite that kind of energy, Roberts has found it hard to get consistent starts under Rodgers.
As the Sevco match comes at us once again, will Rodgers make the move that seems to give Celtic the needed drive? Or will Rodgers continue to prefer him as a second-half dynamo that takes advantage of defenses worn down by Celtic’s relentless pressure?
The answer to that question may be in just how fit Forrest is, as Rodgers noted that the preferred right midfielder has been back training full-time with the Bhoys this week.
Given what we saw last weekend, Rodgers would be wise to get Roberts out there for the full 90 minutes. If not that, at least allow him to get the game going early on and slowly bring Forrest on if needed.
There’s little need to play around with Sevco, just finish them off early and drive towards a sixth-straight SPFL title. Having a healthy Roberts from the go certainly is a smart way to accomplish that task, while risking Forrest in such an intense affair may not be wise to the rest of what Celtic has in mind this season.
We’ll know the answers to these questions in due time, but it certainly will be an interesting 48 hours until the match actually happens.