Loaning players to fellow Scottish Premiership sides can certainly have its advantages and it’s of course something that The Celtic Star was continually urging the club to do in the January transfer window. On the one hand Celtic’s young players who require a higher standard of football than the B-Team may offer, get an opportunity to play week in week out in the environment they’d be expected to eventually perform in for Celtic, meanwhile on the other hand the loanees can impact in games against our rivals, whilst being precluded from playing against the Hoops.
It’s simply a gift that keeps on giving.
One such example yesterday was a second half appearance for Motherwell for Celtic’s Liam Shaw. The player signed from Sheffield Wednesday on a pre-contract agreement has struggled to get into Ange Postecoglou’s team, however a loan move to Graham Alexander’s Motherwell it seems has paid off for both Shaw and Celtic, as the midfielder came off the bench to influence the Steelmen’s come back from a 2-0 deficit, to level the game and ensure Celtic’s Easter Road stalemate slip up offered no advantage to theRangers.
And Shaw took to Instagram yesterday to share his delight at playing a part in Motherwell’s comeback, and no is doubt delighted to have also had an impact on his parent club’s push for the title. And you may notice that one of the comments comes from Adam Montgomery who of course is also out on loan at a Scottish Premiership side, he’s at Aberdeen and maybe fancies impacting on the outcome of the title himself when the Dons play theRangers!
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Shaw’s apparent ‘offside’ role in the build up to Motherwell’s equaliser saw Giovanni Van Bronckhorst call for the introduction of VAR, only a week after claiming its unavailability couldn’t be used as an excuse for missed calls from Scottish referees.
That of course was probably to avoid calling out his own players inability to see out the game from a two-goal lead at home, however there was something all the sweeter to have a Celtic player involved in the Motherwell comeback and at the same time rankle theRangers manager who really should try to be a bigger man.
As Celtic look to develop more tailored pathway plans for younger players in the Celtic squad, and those looking to step up from the B-Team, there is a lot of sense in utilising other Scottish Premiership clubs as a means of getting much needed experience in a competitive environment. Liam Shaw is a fine example of how such moves can not only help the player, but also have an influence on Celtic’s season too.
More of this please Celtic, and well played Liam Shaw!
Niall J
No club apart from Celtic can afford £100.000 it’s going to get this as the the rest can’t and spfl can’t afford to give it to every club ??? So servco will have to go on complaining about nothing 👍
We should be doing more of this. I loved it when 2 Celtic loans helped Hibs beat Sevco in their first attempt at a major trophy (Cup final – Stokes and Henderson)