Former-Celtic star and current pundit Kris Commons believes that there is one player who deserves another chance in the squad.
Celtic had a lackluster performance on Sunday when they took on Kilmarnock at Rugby Park resulting in a 1-1 draw. For some reason the Hoops never have performed well on a plastic pitch, but this performance goes far beyond the playing surface.
Instead, Celtic looked as if they were playing without any sense of urgency and almost as if they were just bored having to be out there. It has prompted a lot of supporters to rightly ask some of the tougher questions of their club.
One of the ideas that has been floated on how to improve performance is to switch the formation back to a 3-5-2, something that worked well last season in the second half. Others suggest bringing in a more physical centre defender, while others believe it simply comes down to squad choice.
The idea of possibly reinforcing the squad through a simple change seems. . . simple enough. There is one player who, when he was healthy last year, was a game changer for Celtic. Enter Hatem Abd Elhamed. The Israeli right-back relinquished his starting duties to wonderkind Jeremie Frimpong when the Israeli went down. He has never got them back.
Now, Kris Commons believes that Elhamed deserves another shot in the squad, and quite frankly, it couldn’t hurt. Here is what Commons had to say in his Daily Mail column:
"“Beyond the centre-backs, Greg Taylor is a solid left-back but he’s obviously a downgrade on Kieran Tierney.“I know for a fact that the club are in the market for another left-back, so you’d think Boli Bolingoli would be on his way out the door if an offer came in.“Jeremie Frimpong is a huge talent, but he’s still a young boy and will make mistakes. Hatem Abd Elhamed is probably the most natural defender Celtic have. I’d give him a run at centre-back.”"
Many would have scoffed at this idea even just weeks ago, but after seeing Christopher Jullien become man-handled by physical target men and Kristoffer Ajer seemingly absent, the idea of giving Elhamed suddenly doesn’t seem so radical.
Elhamed is the back centre-back at this point, so why not give a shot in a match that may not feature the stiffest competition. He could be the spark this club needs right now.