Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn't exactly impressed since joining Celtic, and he has drawn some criticism for his apparent 'strolling'.
One person who was quick to speak against Ox is pundit Andy Halliday, who gave his brutal thoughts on the midfielder.
He said to Open Goal:
"Oxlade-Chamberlain is another one. I can’t believe how much he strolls since he has come up here. Granted, he hasn’t played a lot of football. I thought he was really poor against Dundee United."
His assessment isn't wrong either. In Celtic's terrible 2-0 loss to Dundee United, the Premier League icon looked like a shadow of his former self. It left many wondering why the Hoops even bothered to sign him, and that in itself is concerning.
With his contract expiring in the summer, as he was only signed up on a short-term deal, you would think he would be trying to impress, but as Halliday points out, he does look like he's simply strolling. Although life in Glasgow started well with that last-minute winner against Livingston, he can't live off that forever.
Extend his contract or let him go in the summer?
Celtic will be left with a decision in the summer that could prove to be difficult or easy. If he continues to fail to impress, the club will be left with no option but to let him go upon the expiry of his contract. If he starts to find his form, they may look to keep him, but it'll be up to the midfielder if he actually wants to stay.
You have to assume he's on decent wages. Although he came from being a free agent, we doubt he would have accepted a small money package, meaning that he could be far from the bottom of our most-expensive players even though he's not featuring regularly.
That is just an assumption, but if it's true, then we have a real problem on our hands. Hopefully, he isn't costing us too much, because that money really needs to be invested in the summer instead.
Under a new manager, Ox could find his footing again, but he needs to show that he can do it under Martin O'Neill if he wants any chance at staying. We can't constantly look to the future because we are living in the present. We are (barely) in a title race, and every player needs to pull their weight - that includes Ox, and he better start doing it soon.