“No one is guaranteed to play,” Celtic star receives Motherwell warning

Liam Shaw left Celtic on a loan deal at Motherwell until the end of the season but the 20 year old midfielder has been told by his new boss that there’s no guarantees regarding first team places at Fir Park. Shaw found first team opportunities limited since arriving at Celtic in a £300,000 move from Sheffield Wednesday in the summer, featuring against Real Betis in the 3-2 victory in the Europa League in December and coming off the bench in that frustrating goalless draw at St Mirren just before Christmas.

With Ange Postecoglou brining in three players from the J-League with perhaps a few more to come before the window closes, it was essential to get some fringe players out the door either on loan deals – as in the case of Liam Shaw – or transfers with perhaps Ismaila Soro falling into that category. Ewan Henderson has a foot in both camps, with a loan deal to the end of the season to Hibs followed by a permanent move to Easter Road being sorted for the summer.

Celtic’s English midfielder Liam Shaw (L) vies with Real Betis’ Portuguese midfielder William Carvalho (R) during the UEFA Europa League group G football match between Celtic and Real Betis at Celtic Park stadium in Glasgow, Scotland on December 9, 2021. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Motherwell manager Graham Alexander yesterday explained matters and made sure that Liam Shaw was well aware of the situation he is going into at Fir Park. “We are happy with the squad but we have players going out of contract soon and we are guarding against something happening with one of those guys.

“We have also had the Covid issue. We had seven players missing and four members of staff in the last week,” the Motherwell manager explained as reported by Scottish Sun. “We have had to look at the squad and make sure that we have the sufficient numbers to see us through.

“We see Liam as fitting in. He is motivated and it was a quick deal with Celtic, so we appreciate that and he’s ready.“I think midfield is where he is best suited. We have brought him here to compete with the others at the club.

Real Betis’ Spanish striker Aitor Ruibal (L) fouls Celtic’s English midfielder Liam Shaw (C) during the UEFA Europa League group G football match between Celtic and Real Betis at Celtic Park on December 9, 2021.(Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“I didn’t see him at Sheffield Wednesday but I’ve seen him up here a couple of times. We have done our analysis on him and I think he is really suited to how we play.

“Celtic obviously see him getting in their first team at some point and they value him highly. But they see an opportunity for him to compete and get in our first team. We have made it clear that is what he has to do. No one is guaranteed to play.”