11th October 2026; Fir Park, Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, Motherwell versus Celtic; Alex Oxlade Chamberlain of Celtic
At Motherwell today Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain again sat out the action.
The former Liverpool man missed out on international duty but while fresh and available he was once again overlooked by Martin O’Neill.
After three demoralising defeats on the bounce it seemed obvious that major surgery was needed on the Celtic midfield.
Since the 5-1 defeat against LASK Linz it has been obvious that Celtic’s midfield wasn’t a functioning unit.
Most fans, if given a choice would have had Oxlade-Chamberlain in the Starting XI for today at Motherwell.
With Ben Nygren and Mika Baur away on international duty the case for starting the Ox seemed irresistible but O’Neill refused to give in.
At 10.45 today the Celtic side was announced. After trying every formation and none in the September 20 Glasgow Derby O’Neill went back to 4-3-3 with no place for Oxlade Chamberlain.
?? ? Celtic Football Club are delighted to announce that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has signed a new one-year deal with the club.
More info below ??
#CelticFC?
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) July 4, 2026
It is often the case that when a player is missing through a poor run of results his reputation grows out of proportion.
Such was the complete failure of the Celtic midfield to function that this time that wasn’t the case.
SURELY THERE IS A ROLE FOR OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN AT CELTIC
Derek McInnes and the Ferencvaros boss simply followed the LASK template. Head down the flanks, cut the ball back to the edge of the box and you can have free pots at goal.
While past his best it seemed that the Ox had a role to play at Celtic this season.
But for whatever reasons O’Neill has overlooked the former Liverpool and Arsenal man that signed a new season long deal in July.
The sale of Arne Engels and failure to replace him ought to have strengthened the case for the Ox but that hasn’t been the case.
Within a four day spell he started the home matches against Falkirk and Aberdeen, playing 78 and 63 minutes and making a good impression.
Since then he hasn’t seen a minute of SPFL action. At Ibrox in the League Cup he came off the bench in the 63rd minute as part of a damage limitation exercise.
It has been suggested that Oxlaid-Chamberlain kept quiet about his three match UEFA suspension.
That seems too far fetched to be true. Especially when you have a leading sports lawyer as CEO who surely has an eye for details like checking for any suspensions carried over?
