Could Kelvin Wilson turnaround his Celtic career?
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.
CLICK HERE for Celtic v Real Madrid highlights
Follow Video Celts on Twitter and Facebook