BRENDAN RODGERS has signalled the end of the careers at Celtic for two players.
Marvin Compper, the experienced defender signed for £1m from our forthcoming Europa League opponent Leipzig in January, is now unlikely to ever again feature for Celtic.
The German has been struggling with injury from pretty much his first day as a Celtic player and he managed only 81 minutes on the park for the club, in a low profile Scottish Cup encounter with Morton at Celtic Park in March.
The Celtic Star had an exclusive that morning that Compper would start but little did we known on that freezing cold day in Paradise, that this would be our only chance to see the German wear the Hoops.
Scott Allan’s career has stalled since making the move to Celtic. He had impressed at Hibs while in the Championship and was coveted by Rangers, then also a Championship side as they made their way through the divisions after being allowed into the fourth tier of Scottish football for their first season in 2012/13.
Allan opted for the Scottish Champions but he was unable to fully convince either Ronny Deila or more importantly Brendan Rodgers that he was worthy of a run in the team.
A loan spell at Rotherham, managed by that time by the 2016 Scottish Cup winning manager Alan Stubbs – his Hibs side gloriously beat Rangers 3-2 in the final – was a flop and the midfielder ended up at Dundee on loan, where his notable contribution was coming on as a substitute and setting up the winner against Rangers.
He moved to Easter Road on another loan at the start of this year and excelled alongside John McGinn and Dylan McGeough and Hibs fans lobbied hard during the transfer window to bring him back to the their club.
But perhaps as a result of the bad blood between the Celtic and Hibs boards, nothing happened and Neil Lennon looked elsewhere for his midfield re-enforcements. That has left Allan completely in limbo and out in the cold at Celtic.
Brendan Rodgers has now named an extensive squad for the Europa League Groups stage and the two significant names missing are Compper and Allan.
The message from this is clear – their time at Celtic is over.
Both players are likely to have their contracts terminated and will be free to look elsewhere as free agents.
A couple of other points of interest are that Ryan Christie – who has impressed in his two recent appearances from the bench against FK Suduva and Rangers, is listed not as a midfielder but as a striker and Eboue Kouassi, despite the rumours that he had been told to find a new club, is named in the squad among the midfielders.
The Celtic Europa League squad is as follows:
Celtic’s Europa League squad:
Goalkeepers Craig Gordon, Scott Bain, Ryan Mullen, Conor Hazard
Defenders Emilio Izaguirre, Jack Hendry, Jozo Simunovic, Cristian Gamboa, Dedryck Boyata, Kris Ajer, Mikael Lustig, Filip Bebkovic, Kieran Tierney, Daniel Church, Wallace Duffy, Kerr McInroy, Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh, Lewis Bell.
Midfielders Scott Brown, Scott Sinclair, Lewis Morgan, Tom Rogic, Olivier Ntcham, Youssuf Mulumbu, Scott Robertson, Callum McGregor, James Forrest, Paul Kennedy, Ewan Henderson, Ross McLaughlin, David McKay, Kristi Marku, Eboue Kouassi.
Strikers Leigh Griffiths, Jonny Hayes, Ryan Christie, Odsonne Edouard, Mark Hill, Kieran McGrath, Regan Hendry, Mikey Johnston, Grant Savoury.
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