Celtic are still very much in the SPFL title race. They secured a draw against Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday after being torn apart in the first half. Despite being 2-0 down at half-time, the Bhoys put on a vastly better second-half performance to take a point from a 2-2 draw. And trigger a Rangers meltdown. That Celtic second half performance could now change Daizen Maeda’s season.
O'Neill rotated his squad against Stuttgart and made some more changes for the Ibrox visit. To some extent, he is still working out the best combination of players and their positions. One big issue is who he plays at centre forward.
It’ll be interesting to see who starts for Celtic on Wednesday night in Aberdeen. It may now be time to revert to using Daizen Maeda as the front man from the start of a game. Maeda hasn't been at his best of late and made little impact in his usual wide left slot on Sunday. He did though come to life much more in the second half when played through the middle.
Daizen Maeda could be Celtic’s best centre forward
O'Neill may well reflect on that as he plans for Aberdeen and the games beyond. Brendan Rodgers had to fall back on using Maeda as his centre forward last season. That was very successful. Maeda is not in such good form currently, but he could still be O’Neill’s best option in the Celtic squad for that role.
O’Neill’s newer options from January loans don't look like the answer. Tomas Cvancara started his Celtic career brightly, but has faded since. Early thoughts that he might be a good outlet upfield, holding the ball up and bringing others into play, look misplaced. Perhaps tellingly, O'Neill chose not to involve him at Ibrox.
Junior Adamu got a quick goal on his debut; he has a neat assist too from that Stuttgart win. But on Sunday against Rangers, he failed to impress and was removed at halftime. He hasn't had much chance to show what he can do yet, but he isn't impressing hugely in the game time he has had.
Both Cvancara and Adamu arrived on loan with Celtic holding options to buy. Neither player is yet looking like there will be a rush from the club to secure a permanent deal. They will both be looking for more opportunities over the coming games; they will get that, but O'Neill could make that Maeda switch in his starting XI and limit both loan players to substitute appearances.