QuoteSo he's another centre back...thought he was a midfielder.
So he's another centre back...thought he was a midfielder.
Watford U23 coach said
"He's taken to 23s football like a duck to water. He was good in and out of possession, strong and powerful and he's going to be a good player for us.It's a good debate about whether he is a centre-half or a central midfield player. I'm not going to pigeonhole him. I just think it's great he can play at the back and step into midfield and also defend so well aerially.
I'm looking forward to seeing him develop."
he can play both positions but so far in his career he's played mostly centre midfield
Fully expect Celtic to turn him into a Scottish non league standard centre back then!
Honestly, there's a small chance that he is excellent from the off and will force his way into the Celtic squad in the short term in the same way that Frimpong did. It's not like they're overloaded with talented centre backs. More likely though he disappears into their lowland league team, has a few Scottish lower league loans in the next few years and then a journeyman career after that in the English lower leagues.
Was on the bench v Aberdeen last week also.
made his competitive debut in the cup yesterday against Morton. Brought on at centre back while 5-0 up in the 87th minute
He's wasting his time in Glasgow.
Why? He's a 19 year old who just made his debut. Seems like things are going well.Originally Posted by Eirambler
If you mean about the lack of development by other Irish players there, how many have proved they are good enough for Celtic 1st team since they left?
I'd seriously fancy Barnsley to give Celtic a game, so maybe Connell. If they get promoted and he's playing in the Championship next season, he'll be at a higher level than the SPL already.
I genuinely don't know how to answer that.... I'd put in a facepalm meme if I knew how
Yesterday told you all that's needed to know about Celtic's approach to youth development. If you're not going to give a few young lads a proper run out in a game like that, when are you going to do it?
Morton were hopeless and they were always going to be. But Celtic still named a really strong starting team full of senior players. 4-0 up at half time they sent on the likes of Matt O'Riley and James Forrest during the second half. Poor old Bosun got five minutes at the end.
Celtic probably think that's what youth development is, giving 19 year olds five minutes against lower league opposition. Must be soul destroying for their B team lads, getting token minutes in cup games (Lawal), or maybe even similarly few minutes in a league game that's already won if they think they might be a flight risk (Vata).
It's no wonder that anyone decent that they've had in the youth setup in recent years has left when they've had a chance to.
I've said this a few times on here. Celtic sign Internationals from all over the world. Generally they are good pros for 5 million plus. It's not a simple thing for any young player to break in ahead of these guys.
I can't think of any young player Irish or otherwise who was being held back and went onto to great things after leaving Celtic. You have to be exceptional as a youth to break in.
OkoFlex, Afolabi, Kenny, Connell are all Irish players in last few years who people were complaining about not getting a chance. Connell only one who looks somewhat decent. Afolabi was on loan in Scotish Championship and hardly scored. He'd want to be top goalscorer in that league for Celtic to even consider him and now he's on bench in LOI.
Celtics B team play in Scotish Highland league now. Same thing applies, you need to be dominant there before the 1st team should look at you.
Lawal is obviously training with 1st team now, Vata too I'd imagine. Are they standing out in training, forcing the manager to pick them?
Yesterday was a start for Lawal, let's see if he can build on it, it's up to him to show he's good enough
Last edited by Razors left peg; 22/01/2023 at 6:54 PM.
really is amazing that a 19 yr old cam make his celtic debut after a few bench apps and lads on here want him to leave
Maybe a hint of exaggeration for effect, but I'd seriously contend that the Championship is a higher standard to SPL. How good are Celtic? How good are their players? Well they're hardly covering themselves in glory in Europe where they are struggling to compete and players like Rogic and Ntcham who were mainstays at Celtic are looking very average in the Championship at the minute, so as things stand, there is a decent chance that Connell may well prove to be a player who could have held his own at Celtic. Let's see what happens.
As an over all standard the Championship is better than SPL, but Celtic and Rangers are above that and have both done well in Europe in recent years.
I'm still not hearing of any player who left Celtic and excelled to prove them wrong. I do hope Connell is brilliant though, but as yet he's proved nothing
Championship is better overall yeh, but to be good for celtic/rangers you need to be top 6/8 level championship player at a minimum i would say. ultimately those 2 want to challenge in europe and you wont get by with l1 level players. im delighted to see connell doing well but was he ever really going to be a lad who'd hold his own on a championship contender/old firm euro team? look at scales, he got a few league games, did ok by all accounts then played in europe dropped a few stinkers and celtic went back to playing a rb at lb leaving scales out of squads etc. you have to be a different level of footballer for those old firm sides so comparing the leagues doesnt work in this case IMO
As been said before, it’s pointless trying to reason with Celtic fans.
some posters on here need to make up their minds. i was a liverpool fan yesterday, now im a celtic fan. better call cork city and cancel my season ticket
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