Martin O’Neill has a new problem at Celtic. He is partly responsible for it though. It’s one that he won’t mind facing and will be keen to tackle. This weekend's Scottish Cup game at home to Dundee adds an early opportunity. O’Neill may well turn to his past to help find solutions.
He has to quickly work out his best starting lineup and how to adjust that to maximum effect from his substitute bench. The problem to solve comes from the recruits he has just signed up to the squad. That includes a more extensive range of options for his forward line.
For a while, he had to make his centre-forward decisions from an off-form Daizen Maeda, a misfiring Johnny Kenny, and the bewildering summer signing, Shin Yamada. An injury to Kenny while Kelechi Iheanacho was still on his way back from injury restricted O’Neill’s options even further. Iheanacho is now being eased back with some game time as a late substitute.
Using three forwards at Celtic isn’t new for O’Neill
The January transfer window has brought in Tomas Cvancara and Junior Amadu as competition for Iheanacho in that forward slot. It also allows Maeda to be played in his preferred wide left position, or to be rested. The two new players and the return of Iheanacho raise the issue of how O’Neill will keep all three happy and combine their talents for the team.
That's where past history comes to play. O’Neill may well be looking back to his first managerial spell at Celtic for the answer. He successfully deployed Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, and John Hartson as formidable goal-scoring threats back then. The playing styles of the new signings are different from those of the past trio, but how he combines and uses them may be similar.
O’Neill favoured clear roles for his forwards. One, typically Hartson, was a focal point upfront. Larsson was more of a second striker, dropping deeper and also attacking the space created by Hartson. Sutton added flexibility to play deeper, link up with others, but still attack the penalty box aggressively.
New players offer good options for Celtic front line
We may not see all three of his latest forwards together on the pitch that often, but O'Neill's experience will give him plenty of food for thought. He has already laid the ground for Cvancara not being a typical centre forward. The Polish player has got off to a great start and will be keen to continue that.
We haven't seen a great deal of Iheanacho yet; hopefully, he can get an extended run of games. He has shown his ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play. That could be invaluable. Adamu, and how he fits in, is an unknown quantity as yet. But we’ll no doubt find out what O’Neill sees as his role soon enough.
It’s a very different trio of players compared to the legends that are Larsson, Hartson, and Sutton. This time, it may be more about wise substitutions and shifting the team shape during matches. O’Neill will be delighted to have this problem to solve after so long with bare bones upfront. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.