If Leicester City had come up with the right offer Kelvin Wilson wouldn’t have played in Celtic’s 2-0 defeat from Real Madrid on Saturday night.
It’s fair to say that his inclusion in the side doesn’t fill supporters with confidence but his display against the Spanish champions showed glimpses of the defender that Neil Lennon was so determined to bring to the club.
The clamour for a commanding central defender, or a centre half in old money, is an annual event as part of Celtic’s pre-season build up.
Glenn Loovens, Daniel Majstorovic and Wilson have all been billed as the real deal only for their frailties to be exposed ensuring that the search continues.
In January Jaroslaw Fojut was signed on a pre-contract agreement but a cruciate ligament injury put paid to that deal with no new faces added to the defence although youngsters Lewis Toshney and Marcus Fraser have both had some game time.
It’ll take Wilson a long time to win over the Celtic support but he stuck admirably to his task against Real on Saturday night.
His timing and positional sense looked impressive despite a lack of match practise.
After a comfortable start to his Celtic career the 4-2 defeat at Ibrox in September raised concerns with an achilles injury in the next outing at Ross County preventing further judgement.
Two below par performances at Hampden against Kilmarnock and Hearts did him no favours in the eyes of the support whose need for reinforcements was confirmed by the departures of Loovens, Majstorovic and Darren O’Dea.
Lennon is keeping his cards close to his chest in terms of transfer activity but clearly still retains belief in Wilson.
Every manager likes to see their signings come good with Lennon prepared to wait a year to link up with his former Nottingham Forest team-mate.
A further 12 month delay wouldn’t be unbearable if Wilson turns out to be part of the solution to the central defensive problems that have dogged the club since the spectacular fall out with Bobo Balde.
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I think that some players need a season to adjust to the madness that is Scottish football. The pace and rhythm of the game is much different up here than in England.
So Wilson may come good this season. But even if he does, I still think we need another CH. We need one just for cover, but I think if we bought a good one, then our whole team, especially the central defenders like Wilson would benefit. Playing beside an good, experienced CH would boost his, and a few other players confidence.
And an attacking team like Celtic NEEDS confident central defenders. Confident central defenders are not a luxury for Celtic, as PL seems to think, they’re a necessity.
I had a few jars in me watching the game, but from what I remember Wilson was at fault for the first goal. Completely switched off, lost his man, leaving him with a tap in.
If he plays I’ll support him, but he’s a bombscare.
Disagree that he was solely to blame for the first goal. Charlie Mulgrew lost the ball and did not chase back to cover hs defenders who were woefully exposed. He had a lapse in thesecond half losing the ball in a dangerous area but apart from this he looked quite good. He is fast which is an advantage but needs to improve his concentration. Paul Elliot had a very difficult first season but looked really impressive before heading back south. If he can be half as good as that standard then he will have an important role to play. He deserves a second chance, last season with loss of form and injury was a nightmare for him. A boost in confidence may see a better player emerge. Still need another CH though.
He was better than many games I’ve seen him in previously but that is faint praise. Doesn’t exude confidence in fans and I would presume his fellow defenders. has good turn of pace but given his reputation should be more than capable of performing much better on a regular basis. While I’m sure injuries and adjustments can be put up as valid reasons he has as yet failed to demonstrate he has the ability to hold down a starting position and time is ticking down.
He’s got everything you need in a defender pace, height,good tackler good positional sence but he lacks bottle big time he looked the part then fell apart at ibrokes in the 4-2 game and never really recovered but hopefully he can prove me wrong and be the top class CB we’re hoping he can be. hail hail
I disagree. Real Madrid’s first goal on Saturday was entirely Wilson’s fault; he was sucked out of position too easily and was about 20 yards away from his CB partner when the killer pass was played in. He left Rogne exposed with two attackers to deal with.
i don’t agree at all with the good positional sense comments. In just about every game i’ve watched him including the real game he has switched off on numerous occasions and wandered away from the opposing striker, leaving them in space to punish us. The punishment might not happen all the time but easily 3-5 times a game. To me that’s not a good defender. If he could improve his concentration he may become a good CH, but i can’t see it, if he hasn’t done it after all these years.
To be fair the big man looked ok against Real and has shown that against other teams… hes a young lad that came from Forrest… hardly intimidating and played at less intimidating grounds than parkhead….. Having a few fans gasp when he has a howler is much different to CP when forty odd thousand plus do it! He needs a run of games playing well to realise the level and consistency required at Celtic if he doesnt already know it! Although, Olivier Tebily keeps screaming out my mouth like a deranged tourettes sufferer!
Agree with a couple of fans.
Wilson was to blame for the first goal on Sat night.
Wilson chased a player into midfield needlessly leaving Rogne exposed. He did block a number of efforts in the second half but i just cant see him getting better.
As afore mentioned, let the hoops down badly at hampden on two occassions last season. Doesnt look like a communicator at the back.
Celtic need a strong Centre half at the back. No nonsence, clear the lines centre. half, who can organise and communicate. If we dont get on in and we reach the Champ league, we will be severly exposed.
The big guy’s not my cup of tea and we do need some quality in Central Defence but look at the difference Neil Lennon made by massaging Sammys ego and helping him gain his confidence again.Maybe a good run in the team will help him.
we dont have the luxury of giving him a good run in the team ,we cannot afford his errors,we also have youngsters ,with potential,we should be giving game time to gain 1st team & euro experience.
The bhoy needs confidence ! big time ! you can almost read his thought process from the stands. Should I stay or should I go – this only comes when working as a pair – knowing where you partner is. We need a settled pair and some game time – anybody at the Aberdeen game would have seen slow and slower Rogne and Wilson