Charlie Nicholas outlined his suggestions for Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou in his Daily Express column this morning and for a change it wasn’t the usual sneering criticism coming from the play who had two spells at the club at the start and end of his playing days.
Instead Nicholas outlined signing suggestions for the new manager and certainly has come up with one to two decent ideas as the Australian contemplates the squad he has inherited and considers how he is going to add to it over the coming weeks and months.
A sensible starting point for Postecoglou is to assess the talent in his new backyard – the Scottish Premiership – to see if the best players available are of interest to him as he re-builds the Celtic squad. There certainly are a few players at both Hibs and League Cup and Scottish Cup ‘Invincibles’ St Johnstone worth considering (that’s how it works in the MSM, right?) and we’ll look at these in more detail later today. But one name on our own list also makes Charlie’s and that is Hibs left back Josh Doig, who is currently being chased by Watford.
“If I was Ange Postecoglou I would be trying to sign Josh Doig because he could become the next Kieran Tierney,” Nicholas stated in his Express column. “There is talk that Watford have just had a bid of £2.5million knocked back.
“Why wouldn’t Celtic go into the market and try and sign him from Hibs? They might even be able to trade in one or two players to perhaps seal the deal. I think Doig has great potential and could flourish into a real Tierney type.
“If it was to take £3m or £4m, then why not pay it? He would have a future sell-on and is one of the best young players in the country. I know a left-back might not be a priority but I would still go after him right now,” Nicholas argued.
And he remains unconvinced about the goalkeeping situation and makes a decent suggestion to add to the growing list of keepers that Celtic have been linked with in recent weeks. “Celtic need a new No.1 because Vasilis Barkas is not the answer. Also, if I were Celtic I wouldn’t be looking to spend a lot of money on another keeper. I think they could solve this position with a good loan and relatively cheaply,” Nicholas wrote.
“I would suggest Danny Ward, who did well for Wales at Euro 2020. He is not getting regular football at Leicester City and has shown internationally he is a reliable and solid keeper. Ward also proved himself at Aberdeen, when he came up on loan in a season where the Dons challenged Celtic up until he returned to his then-parent club Liverpool that January,” Nicholas stated.
He also has a second goalkeeping suggestion for Postecoglou. “Caoimhin Kelleher has already played in the Liverpool first team, he is another one. My mate Phil Thompson rates him highly and he’s another who wouldn’t be overly expensive.
“Right-back is a position of immediate concern. Jonjoe Kenny came up on loan but he wasn’t really a standout. Postecoglou needs to fill that and I would be tempted to go for somebody like Danny McNamara at Millwall. He has already had a spell up here at St Johnstone and done really well.
“He is playing at Millwall but he is young, has potential and I would also expect him to quickly break into the full Republic of Ireland squad,” Nicholas predicted.
“The central defence is another area, although it looks like Celtic are about to sign Mario Vuskovic from Hajduk Split.
“I still think they need another striker, even if they re-sign Leigh Griffiths and continue with Albian Ajeti. I believe they still need another one, especially if Odsonne Edouard goes. I would try and get Eddie Nketiah from my old club Arsenal. He has been linked with West Ham United and teams in the Bundesliga and he is a really quick and exciting talent.
“He had a spell on loan at Leeds cut short because of injury but he is back fit and he is one I would look at either on a loan or a permanent contract, if that could be done.”
Fair play to Nicholas, we are often critical of his negative columns when it comes to Celtic, here he is at least putting forward positive ideas that may have some merit. So we’ve coloured his name in as green at the top of this article!
