Football FanCast
·15 November 2021
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Yahoo sportsFootball FanCast
·15 November 2021
While things have undoubtedly started to click for Celtic under the management of Ange Postecoglou in recent months, there would nevertheless appear to be a great deal of work for the 56-year-old Bhoys boss to do in the January transfer window if his side are to go onto reclaim their Scottish Premiership crown this season.
Indeed, Tom Rogic’s hamstring injury has highlighted the Hoops’ lack of depth in attacking midfield, while Greg Taylor’s shoulder injury has also left Postecoglou short of options at left-back, with the Greek-Australian manager often being left with no other choice than to field right-back Josip Juranovic out of position on the opposite flank.
However, concerning Celtic’s attacking midfield issue, the 56-year-old could already possess something of a solution to his selection headache in the position, in the shape of 21-year-old Ewan Henderson.
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Despite being handed his professional debut by Brendan Rodgers back in February of 2019, Henderson has only gone on to feature a further nine times for the Bhoys first team over the last two years and is yet to make a single appearance under the leadership of Postecoglou.
Indeed, after featuring in just three fixtures for Celtic last season – one of which happened to be the 3-2 victory over LOSC Lille in the Europa League – the attacking midfielder was sent on loan to Dunfermline Athletic for the second half of the campaign, where the youngster made 10 appearances for the Pars, scoring one goal and registering three assists.
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However, despite these impressive returns, as well as featuring regularly in pre-season, the 21-year-old once again has watched on from the sidelines for the entirety of the current campaign, despite several calls for the midfielder to be given a shot in the first team upon Rogic’s injury.
And, with the fixtures beginning to come thick and fast as we approach the Christmas period, it would indeed appear highly advisable for Postecoglou to finally unleash the player whose brother, Liam Henderson, dubbed a “tremendous” talent in the coming weeks, as, should the youngster go on to grasp his opportunity, he could end up saving Celtic millions of pounds in January transfer fees.
Furthermore, considering Celtic already failed to hand Liam Henderson much of a shot in the first-team before parting with the midfielder for a mere £108k in January of 2018 – a player who is now thriving in Serie A with Empoli – there would seem to be a very clear lesson for the 56-year-old Bhoys boss to learn from the club’s previous mistake regarding a Henderson.