Over the past few days I’ve been looking at our options in the left back position. It was confirmed earlier this week that Greg Taylor, who in the early part of the season seemed to have cemented down the position, has undergone shoulder surgery and will be out until at least the new year.
I have previously looked at Josip Juranovic and Boli Bolingoli, who are both in with a good shout of making the position their own. Juranovic has staked his claim in the past two matches, but isn’t without his faults.
Another contender is young Celtic star Adam Montgomery who has had a meteoritic rise into the senior team reckoning this season under the tutelage of our manager Ange Postecoglou. Montgomery first broke into the senior squad last season under John Kennedy, first making the squad against Aberdeen at the end of February before finally making his professional debut for Celtic on 12 May 2021, starting in a 4–0 win over St Johnstone.
Since Ange Postecoglou took over in the summer, Montgomery has been fully integrated into the first team setup. He currently has 14 appearances in all competitions, with 7 starts which included all 3 Europa League group stage matches. Being handed so much game time, especially with being handed the responsibility of starting games in Europe, shows that he is clearly rated by the management team.
All through his youth career Montgomery played as an attacker, predominantly as either a striker or as a left winger. He often came to Celtic fans attention due to clips of wonderful goals he scored during his time in the youth ranks and was always talked about as one for the future. Stepping into the senior ranks though he has been convinced to remodel his game as an attacking full back in the hope that this may be an easier route to the first team.
Now in the past few seasons this transition has proved rather successful for some of our current and former players. The one that stands out of course is Kris Ajer who left in a big money deal to EPL side Brentford in the summer. Kris was signed as a defensive midfielder but over time transitioned into an excellent centre back. To maybe a lesser extent we can also make a case for Nir Bitton being another success in this regard. Another defensive midfielder who was converted to a centre back, although I much prefer Nir in his natural position.
Adam Montgomery though reminds me more of another one of our past players, Calvin Miller. In 2016 under then manager Brendan Rodgers 18 year old Miller, who like Montgomery was also a highly rated attacking talent from the youth set up, broke into the first team picture as the back up to Kieran Tierney in the left back position.
Although he initially won plaudits for his performances in that position it soon became obvious that he had a lot to learn and was far the finished article. Miller never did prove himself accomplished enough to become a regular in his new position and left Celtic in the summer last year having made little impact on the first team.
The similarities I see between the two are striking. Both young players with burgeoning reputations as attacking talents hoping that by converting into left backs they may be able to manoeuvre their way into the first team reckoning. Sadly it didn’t pay off for Miller. There is hope that it will be a different story for Montgomery but from what i see I think he is a long way off being fully comfortable in the role yet.
On the plus side it’s clear to see his ability when going forward from left back. He has shown so far this season that he is an attacking threat and has gelled well with Jota in those positions in certain games. He also possesses a good turn of pace and has bagfuls of energy. With Ange being such an attack minded coach it is clear that these are the attributes that has led to Montgomery getting so much game time at such a young age.
Unfortunately it’s Montgomery’s defensive capabilities which aren’t fully honed yet which is unsurprising as the young man has only been transitioned into this position this year. I think the European games when he has been up against a higher standard of opposition has flagged up his frailties in this regard. Our last European game against Fenencvaros he struggled badly in the first half often looking shaky and was at fault when handing the opposition the best chance of the game up until that moment, which thankfully they didn’t capitalise on.
In conclusion I feel that at the moment it is just too early in his career to be handing a regular starting position to Montgomery. I think he should be given time to fully acclimatise to his new position, but this should be done at Lennoxtown and maybe in some of the so called ‘easier’ games such as the earlier rounds of the Scottish cup. If his defensive side of the game could be honed correctly I think he has a fantastic chance of staking a claim for a starting spot in the future.
Conall McGinty
Adam Montgomery is undoubtedly a good player going forward but he cannot defend and I am sorry to say that he will never be the answer for that position. I would like to see Liam Scales getting an extended run in the side at that position, the big man looks like a defender who can defend and he has the height we have been missing from our wee left backs that cannot jump when defending corners, free kicks etc.
He was a breath of fresh air when he came in doing the simple and doing them well the more regular he played the more wayward he became get back to the basics and you will get back in the team. Yes I think Scales is due a run out we have to find the strength of these fringe players as tyo whether they are going to make it or not looks like Shaw and Huraghardzi are not going to make it.