Brought back memories of Lubo- High praise for Celtic’s summer signing

For Celtic players of the Martin O’Neill era there was no greater talent than Lubo Moravcik.

Signed by Dr Jo Venglos at the age of 33 he showed flashes of his incredible ability but it wasn’t until O’Neill took charge in the summer of 2000 that Moravcik really came to the fore.

Genuinely it was difficult to decide whether he was right or left footed which opponents dreaded as he opened up defences to create umpteen chances for team-mates.

After retirement in 2002 David Fernandez was signed to replace the Slovak, he wasn’t the last to fail with the Slovak a genuine once in a generation talent.

Luis Palma plays in a different position in a different way but there was one touch against Aberdeen that reminded Sutton of his richly talented former team-mate.

In the Daily Record Sutton explains:

The positives are that Luis Palma is showing real promise. The jury is still out despite superb numbers in terms of goals and assets. He’s got seven goals and eight assists in just 18 appearances – including setting up three against Aberdeen and scoring one himself.

There are wide players who don’t produce those stats over an entire season. It’s tough for him as he has big boots to fill as Jota’s apparent replacement.

But he doesn’t look overawed by the challenge. He’s certainly got a deadly right foot, but the good thing about Palma is that he’s learning all the time. He was hitting the byline against Aberdeen and mixing up his game. His cross for Oh’s goal with the outside of his right boot was a touch of class and brought back memories of Lubo Moravcik.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s got a long way to go to get to Lubo’s level but I do think there’s more to come from him – and the same can be said about Yang. We knew he could dribble but he’s starting to produce an end product and no doubt Rodgers is working on him.

He’s got great feet and tremendous pace. Now he’s starting to play with his head up, he’s got the ability to cause defenders real problems.

Palma has quickly become a key player for Brendan Rodgers, with Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda both out injured the Honduran has a critical role to play through the packed December fixture list.