Martin O'Neill keeps falling into a trap of his own creation by starting Reo Hatate for Celtic.
The midfielder has had some horrific performances for the Celts this season, and the truth is now clear that a fully fit Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could shut Hatate out of the Celtic squad for good.
The Ox signed for the Hoops this month as a free agent, having been without football for six months. Although it was thought he might take some time to get going, he has now featured in two matches, both off the bench.
On his debut, he curled a fantastic strike into the back of the net, with his second appearance also seeing him have a good performance. If he keeps this up, time may be ticking for Hatate to find his form.
A lot of supporters were surprised to see Hatate start for Celtic vs Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. Just a few days earlier, we spoke about how Martin O'Neill needed to make the difficult call and drop him, but it seems the manager still has a little bit of trust in the player.
With that being said, he did bring Hatate off at half-time, with the midfielder being replaced by the Ox. There was an immediate change, and the truth became clear to a lot of people: Playing with Hatate is like playing with 10 men.
It's time for Hatate to be dropped
It was time enough for him to be dropped after his last few performances, but the Kilmarnock game has surely sealed the deal. Hatate looks like a shadow of his former self, and it seems incredibly unlikely that he will be able to recapture the form that once made him one of the best midfielders in the country.
With all that being said, a start for the player is likely against VfB Stuttgart this week.
In Europe, Celtic won't be able to utilise the talents of Oxlade-Chamberlain. With Arne Engels still injured, it seems impossible for O'Neill to avoid using Hatate. Liam McCowan is an option over him, and supporters would probably prefer for the Scotsman to be in midfield at this point in time.
Domestic success is more important to fans though, as much as we would all love a European run, so people may not see it as shocking if Hatate is selected on Thursday. If he is, all we can hope is that he has been analysing his terrible performances and will be able to come back stronger than ever.
His performances improving would help him out massively too. Not only would he get his confidence back, but when he moves on in the summer, if he is performing well, he will have many more clubs interested in his services.