Every Celtic fan knows the importance of winning the tenth straight title, but it’s also possible that success could come at the expense of developing the young players.
The Rangers look capable of challenging for the title so Lenny knows they will need to win almost every game, and that means there won’t be a lot of chances for the young players.
Football Insider has been looking at what the future could hold for Karamoko Dembele, and they also spoke to former Celtic favourite Frank McAvennie about the young star.
Dembele is clearly talented and he doesn’t look out of place in the team, but he’s never had to play when trophies are on the line, and it’s doubtful that Lenny will want to test that when the stakes are so high.
McAvennie also seemed to agree, as he indicated that the youngsters won’t get too many chances next season:
“They have talked about Dembele for years now. Lenny likes him and gave him a couple of games last years. He has the talent.”
“He is very exciting and when he gets the ball he gets the fans off their seat. A player that is not going to put his foot in but he gets kicked all over the place.”
“But you need somebody that can go in and stay in the team. Lenny needs to build a stable team this year, rather than chopping and changing.”
“Dembele will be a bit part player this season because Lenny has a big squad. This year is too important to blood youngsters.”
“Lenny loves playing the kids but not in the big games. You will not see too many experiments this year.”
It’s a fair point and it’s hard to see Lenny taking too many chances in that regard. We all want to see the young players get a chance, but it won’t go well if it comes at the expense of winning the league.
It’s also possible that Celtic will storm to the title and that might give some chances to the younger players, but it sounds like they shouldn’t expect to play a major role.
