Charlie Nicholas explains Celtic’s £7m absence

Charlie Nicholas believes that Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers have played Chris Jullien out the picture at Celtic. 

The Frenchman has only played 20 minutes of first team football this season and has failed to make the substitute bench in the last two matches. 

With Jullien’s contract expiring at the end of next season some tough decisions will have to be taken with little sign of the door opening in central defence. 

Carter-Vickers and Starfelt have played every minute of the 12 SPFL matches since the turn of the year and look certain to stay in place as Celtic look to add two more trophies to Ange Postecoglou’s debut season. 

Covering the issue in his Daily Express column, the Daily Record reports Nicholas saying: 

Ange Postecoglou doesn’t sit back because his instinct is always to attack and, because of that, even when they go behind they still remain dangerous. 

What has impressed me most of all about Ange’s team is that defensively they are getting better and better. 

Yes, we know the central defenders have mistakes in them and the full-backs can be exposed. But Joe Hart hardly had a save to make. He had more to do from the idiot that threw the broken glass on to the park than he did from the Rangers team. 

Celtic’s weakness is when they don’t have the ball, but now they have improved defensively and they are a lot stronger. That is why Christopher Jullien can’t get back in. 

With just one midweek match before the end of the season it seems unlikely that there will be many changes in the Celtic defence over the last six SPFL matches and a maximum of two Scottish Cup ties. 

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