Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has revealed that he may still be in interim charge of the club when they face Dundee at Parkhead on Wednesday night in the Scottish Premiership.
Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph claims that there has been a delay in finalising the deal to bring Wilfried Nancy to the club from MLS outfit Columbus Crew, which is why the Northern Irishman may still be in the dugout in midweek.
The French boss will surely be keeping close tabs on how the team fared under O’Neill in November, and will already be thinking about how he wants to set the side up moving forward.
The Celtic players who will have impressed Nancy against Hibernian
In the 2-1 win over Hibernian in the Premiership on Sunday, several players showed that they can be key players for the next head coach, whenever he finally takes charge.
Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels are the two obvious ones after they both got on the scoresheet in the first half, with the former tapping into an empty net and the latter bravely burying a header in just seconds later.
Reo Hatate also excelled in a number ten role ahead of Callum McGregor and Engels, biting into the tackle to then set up Maeda for the opening goal.
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel also made a couple of impressive stops late on in the match to secure all three points, and he will surely be Nancy’s number one, in the short-term at least.
Whilst several players, mainly the ones mentioned here, will have impressed the incoming boss, Nancy may already have an idea of the players he wants to move on when the January transfer window opens up.
The first Celtic player Nancy should sell in January
After a confident first-half showing, academy graduate Colby Donovan was forced off with an injury at the break and replaced by experienced full-back Anthony Ralston.
Within minutes of his introduction, the Scotland international was caught out defensively before playing a poor pass back that went straight out of play on the right touchline.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ live coverage of the game, former Hoops striker Chris Sutton described Ralston’s play as “really sloppy” and claimed that the defender “hasn’t recovered” from his below par showing against St Mirren.
Minutes
72
Tackles won
0
Ground duels won
1/2
Aerial duels won
0/2
Dribbled past
1x
Key passes
0
Crosses attempted
0
In that win over the Saints, as shown in the table above, the Scottish flop lost 75% of his duels and offered virtually nothing to the team from a creative perspective.
His disappointing displays against St Mirren and Hibs in recent weeks have not been a blip, unfortunately, as he also left far too much to be desired from his performance against Midtjylland in the Europa League at the start of November.
Ralston made it far too easy, as shown in the clip above, for Mikel Gogorza to beat him and score, which came just moments after the Spaniard had danced past the defender to cross for the opening goal.
He ultimately left the pitch with 45 touches, nine fewer than goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, while he also failed to have a shot, provide a cross or key pass and he also only made one interception.
Therefore, the 27-year-old dud’s performances on and off the ball this season have not been up to scratch, which is why he may already be a player who could be on the chopping block for Nancy.
With Alistair Johnston to come back from his hamstring injury and Donovan emerging as a genuine first-team level option at right-back, Ralston may not be needed beyond January, as potentially the third-choice option in his position.
That is why the incoming Celtic boss should make the experienced flop the first player he axes at Parkhead when the January transfer window opens for business, whether that is by sending him out on loan or by selling him on a permanent basis.
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Whilst you never know who will shine with a clean slate under Nancy, it is hard to look past Ralston as the first player he needs to move on from the squad when the next transfer window rolls around at the turn of the year.