{"id":438187,"date":"2025-09-20T09:12:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T09:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/438187\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T09:12:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T09:12:15","slug":"i-have-doubts-over-celtic-squad-after-shambolic-summer-as-tierney-and-maeda-questions-remain-unanswered-chris-sutton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/438187\/","title":{"rendered":"I have doubts over Celtic squad after shambolic summer as Tierney and Maeda questions remain unanswered \u2013 Chris Sutton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sutty is sceptical about Brendan Rodgers having what he needs in order to go deep in the Europa League this season\"Chris<\/p>\n

Celtic columnist<\/p>\n

\"CelticCeltic boss Brendan Rodgers with Kieran Tierney<\/p>\n

Brendan Rodgers has said his piece but has tried to draw some sort of line under the shambolic summer.<\/p>\n

I suspect the supporters are not going to let it lie but there is a feeling that Celtic<\/a> are going to just have to get on with it now.<\/p>\n

The questions off the pitch will remain but what about on it? Where are Celtic at right now?<\/p>\n

A lot of it is the great unknown.<\/p>\n

In terms of positives, Sebastian Tounekti<\/a> could not have made a better debut at Rugby Park.<\/p>\n

He was superb. It was just refreshing to see a player so direct, so confident, so willing to take on his man.<\/p>\n

His final ball could be sharpened up but it made a huge difference having that attacking option down the left, committing defenders and causing chaos at the byline and in the box.<\/p>\n

It would be daft to go overboard after just one game \u2013 and likewise on the other flank with Michel-Ange Balikwisha.<\/a><\/p>\n

Celtic new bhoy Michel-Ange Balikwisha in action <\/p>\n

While Tounekti made an explosive impact, it\u2019s fair to say it\u2019s been a more low key start from the other winger who arrived in the summer.<\/p>\n

Listen, it\u2019s only been two games so I\u2019m not going to write him off. Nicholas Kuhn didn\u2019t exactly get off to flyer at Celtic and look how he turned out.<\/p>\n

Balikwisha has a long way to go to get to that stage though and I\u2019m still struggling to see what his main attributes are.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t look like he has blistering pace or is too willing to take on his man. I found that a bit strange in the Rangers game when he was up against 33-year-old James Tavernier and there was a similar reluctance to do so on the other flank at Kilmarnock.<\/p>\n

He just seemed to want to play safe, going backwards rather than driving towards goal.<\/p>\n

That may come. I\u2019ve seen suggestions he\u2019s more of a no.10, but that\u2019s not what he was brought in to do.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be a wait and see job. The same goes for Kelechi Iheanacho.<\/p>\n

The penalty was a huge moment for him.<\/p>\n

It takes a top player to score for Celtic on their debut\u2026<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think you can draw too many comparisons between myself and Iheanacho as our circumstances were different.<\/p>\n

But I hope he has come in to the club with the same attitude I had, to prove people wrong.<\/p>\n

I got up and running on my debut with the winner at Dundee United and the 6-2 game a few weeks later certainly helped me get going.<\/p>\n

I did get sent off on my home debut against Motherwell in between, but that was another ridiculous decision in all honesty.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d come off the back of a difficult season at Chelsea while Iheanacho\u2019s career has been on a downward trajectory for a couple of years. We know the circumstances of his arrival and how he wasn\u2019t first choice.<\/p>\n

(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

But those scenes last week might just light a fire under him and he could turn out to be a cracking signing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s up to him but Rodgers will believe he can get the best out of him. Likewise, that\u2019s the question over Daizen Maeda.<\/p>\n

Where is the best position to utilise him? He might be needed through the middle for now until Iheanacho gets up to speed, but could he end up being used more on the right wing, with Tounekti on the left?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly an option.<\/p>\n

I know there have been some grumbles over Benjamin Nygren but I think that\u2019s a little unfair. He arrived for buttons and has shown good versatility. A few of the domestic games will have been a culture shock but there\u2019s been enough signs to suggest he\u2019ll be a good asset.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Marcelo Saracchi looks a neat and tidy addition \u2013 and it will take some of the stress off Kieran Tierney.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still a lot I don\u2019t understand around the Tierney situation and I get why people are wondering what\u2019s going on around not managing to play 90 minutes yet.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got to say he\u2019s not yet an upgrade on Greg Taylor but I still think he\u2019ll come good and become an excellent signing.<\/p>\n

Saracchi is a safe bet to back him up but if he\u2019s going to be needed to play on the right \u2013 especially in Europe \u2013 then Tierney is going to have to play full matches sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

As for the other summer recruits, it already looks ominous for them. Rodgers wanted Hayato Inamura to go on loan as he felt he was too lightweight right now, but now he\u2019s stuck in no man\u2019s land.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same for Shin Yamada. I actually thought there were something to work with there but he got on at Ibrox, was left out of the European squad and wasn\u2019t involved last weekend.<\/p>\n

Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a strange one. As is the Jahmai Simpson-Pusey situation<\/a>. No one has seen him yet and he\u2019s behind Dane Murray in the pecking order.<\/p>\n

If he\u2019s not involved against Partick Thistle on Sunday then people are rightly going to wonder what was the point in coming up from Manchester City.<\/p>\n

I know he wasn\u2019t part of the main pre-season training group at the Etihad but he should be up to speed by now.<\/p>\n

This is what I mean by there being so many questions. There are some encouraging signings and some where the jury is still out.<\/p>\n

And there will need to be answers given the games are coming thick and fast at home and in Europe.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s already talk of Celtic attempting go deep in the Europa League but I have my doubts, given concerns about the depth of the squad.<\/p>\n

Red Star Belgrade is a tough start on the road and it remains to be seen what the turn out is going to be for the home games given the anger among fans.<\/p>\n

The only thing certain at Celtic right now is the uncertainty of what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sutty is sceptical about Brendan Rodgers having what he needs in order to go deep in the Europa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[2352,2628,1811,94,136282,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-438187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-brendan-rodgers","9":"tag-celtic-fc","10":"tag-europa-league","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-kelechi-iheanacho","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115235857907813257","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}