As we watched this current Celtic team put in yet another pathetic display to go alongside the many others we have had the misfortune of witnessing this season, there is an ever growing list of problems that need discussed in terms of how badly things have gone wrong during this campaign, both on the pitch and off it…
Watching that yesterday highlighted a multitude of problems in this current squad, one thing that is blatantly evident to everyone however is the severe lack of goals in this team. It’s astounding how we have got to the point where we literally don’t have any goalscoring forwards in our squad.
During my lifetime of being a Celtic fan I can’t remember a team so toothless up front. The numbers from our strikers are truly pathetic. I’ll start with the best of the lot and that’s Daizen Maeda, who many will correctly argue isn’t even a striker. The Japanese attacker has switched between striker, left winger and right winger this season. He has played in most games and overall has seven goals to his name.
We then have Kelechi Iheanacho, who has never looked fully fit this season, but has played his fair share of games. He has three goals to his name, two of which were penalties. He hasn’t scored from open play in any of our domestic competitions.
We then have a pair of strikers signed on loan for decent money in January. We hoped they might change our fortunes in front of goal. Well the opposite has happened. They look worse than what we had already. Tomas Cvancara has two goals overall, with one being a penalty. Junior Adamu has one goal to his name.
Before leaving for Bolton on loan, Johnny Kenny actually had scored six goals. So compared to the other three out and out strikers currently in our squad, Kenny has the same amount of goals as those three combined, none of which were penalties. Let that sink in. We somehow have managed to replace the bad with even worse.
I said to a friend recently that if you combined the best attributes of Iheanacho, Cvancara and Adamu you still wouldn’t have a player on your hands worthy of being called a Celtic striker.
It actually pains me to think that we have ended up with these three as our current strikeforce. It pretty much sums up the magnitude of how standards at the club we love have fallen during this past year.
Celtic sold proven goalscorers
We sold proven goalscorers such as Kyogo and Idah and replaced them with players who would struggle to get a game with any other side in the Scottish Premiership. Some Celtic fans couldn’t wait to get shot of the likes of Adam Idah and Oh Hyeon-Gyu. I would give my right arm to have the pair of them available for selection for the remainder of this season.
If it wasn’t for Benjamin Nygren’s goals this season I dread to think where we would be. We rely on his goals so much that even when he is atrocious during games the manager keeps him on, knowing he’s one of the only players in the side who actually knows how to put the ball in the net. That’s a damning indictment on the rest of our players.
After yesterday’s defeat it looks like we may need to potentially win every game if we are to retain the league title.
With our current strikeforce it’s impossible to see where the goals needed to blow away the opposition will come from, with only Benjamin Nygren a regular scorer this season.
Conall McGinty
Post your own thoughts in the comments section below…
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One thought to share Conall. We could have had a front three yesterday that would have cost us zero.
Rocco Vata on one wing, Ben Doak on the other and Daniel Cummings through the middle, all three are Celtic supporters who saw no pathway at our club so headed south.
I agree about Oh, who was shipped out far too quickly but I’m always amazed at how highly people rate Idah. Have you checked his ‘goal scoring’ record since he left? It’s abysmal. Same could be said for Kyogo and Kuhn by the way – all three of them have failed to hit double figures between them since they left. We may actually have done well to get good money for them – it’s just a pity we didn’t use it to bring in some decent talent.