Cameron Carter-Vickers return on schedule is great news, the question many Celtic supporters will be asking is who’s going to play beside him?…
Brendan Rodgers has recently revealed that Cameron Carter Vickers will be retuning to the first team fold as scheduled, which should be mid-October. His absence was expected to be around eight weeks and so it turns out as our ‘Big Strong Man’ is due to resume training during the next international break in two weeks time.
That could make the American international available for the tough trip to Tynecastle on Sunday 22 October and the home clash against Atletico Madrid just three days later on Wednesday 25 October.
That’s fantastic news as we know how much important he is to Celtic’s back line. The question though is who is going to be his partner?
CCV will come straight back into the side, that’s a given, he’s a nailed-on starter. However in his absence Gustav Lagerbielke and Liam Scales have held the fort and despite a bit of a shaky start, the two of them have had quite a superb time keeping four consecutive clean sheets domestically.
Liam Scales would seem the obvious choice as he’s naturally left sided and has been the stand out player at the back recently. Although Gustav Lagerbielke deserves praise also, but he’s still adapting to our game and is perhaps still a bit raw. That is Brendan’s concern of course, that’s why he’s paid his big salary.
Maik Nawrocki is also on the comeback trail – he’s perhaps a month or so behind CCV – so things are going to get very competitive in that position as we head towards Christmas. That thought is a problem that can only benefit the team I suppose and Brendan Rodgers will ultimately make the decisions when they come his way. That will be a nice problem for the Celtic manager to have as opposed to losing so many central defenders to injury within a few weeks.
Don’t forget Stephen Welsh who signed a new contract extension then got injured in training on the same day and isn’t expected to be back until January 2024.
As things stand the first pick central defensive pairings could well be CCV and Liam Scales, a remarkable turn-around in his Celtic career for the Irishman. Yet he’s earned everything he gets and is well deserving of a place in Brendan’s side.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
Nawrocki for me, and the sooner the better. . .end of!
CCV’s return was supposed to be “early October”, now it’s “mid October”. I wonder why it takes players so long these days to recover from injury, the average time out being 2-3 months. I remember Henrick Larsson’s bad leg break and he was back playing quicker than that. Too much cotton wool being wrapped around players now.
No issue. Scales a natural left footed defender should keep his place until form dips.
No goals conceded to date.
Nawrocki unproven as yet.
Hail Hail.