Celtic: Postecoglou must drop Adam Montgomery for Motherwell clash | OneFootball

Following on from Celtic’s 3-2 win over Real Betis in the Europa League, the Bhoys are back in action this afternoon with a Scottish Premiership clash against Motherwell at Parkhead.

On the Chalkboard

In terms of which players Hoops manager Ange Postecoglou could pick to be in his starting XI on this occasion, one figure that featured in the win over Betis that should not be in the team on this occasion is Adam Montgomery.

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Despite starting the game in midweek against the Spanish side, Montgomery failed to prove himself to Postecoglou before being replaced by Mikey Johnston.

During his time on the pitch, Montgomery didn’t have much of an attacking impact on the team by failing to have even one clear shot at goal or complete any of the two dribbles he attempted.

Things weren’t much better for the 19-year-old in a defensive sense either by losing nine duels, surrendering possession of the ball on 15 occasions (once every 3.2 touches) giving three fouls away and getting dribbled past twice.

This display ultimately earned Montgomery, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £3.5k-per-week according to Salary Sport, an overall underwhelming match rating of 6.3/10, making him one of Celtic’s lowest-rated players on the day according to SofaScore, showing how much he flopped on this occasion.

One dubbed “tremendous” by Postecoglou, his display on the night was sadly anything but.

Even though Montgomery has predominantly played in the left-back position for the 16 appearances he’s made for the Bhoys so far this term, it’s a shame that he couldn’t do more in an attacking sense against Betis when given the chance to play a bit further forward up the pitch to fully show off his talents to the manager.

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Taking this into account, it should be in Celtic’s best interest if Postecoglou doesn’t start Montgomery today against Motherwell, who have the chance of cutting the gap between them and their opposition this afternoon to seven points if they manage to secure a win.

Labelled as a “very talented young player” in the past by Postecoglou, Montgomery’s poor performance against Betis should be no cause for concern given his age. However, if he keeps delivering underwhelming performances when called upon, there could be some questions raised over his ability moving forward.