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News
John Hartson thinks 22-year-old Celtic player could get picked to start vs Hibs tonight
I love pre-match football chat whenever Celtic are about to play. I like hearing and giving, opinions on who should start or who should be dropped as Brendan Rodgers looks to continue Celtic’s domination of the Scottish Premiership.
The St Johnstone result at the weekend gives the team a huge boost heading into the game tonight against Hibs. The performance, however, did not.
And that is what most of the chat consists of today. There were players at McDiarmid Park that just didn’t show up. And my goodness, Rodgers let them know about it.
So the question is, who from the starting lineup in Perth survives to make it into the team tonight? My Celtic Predicted XI named three changes to the side and listening to what John Hartson had to say, maybe I should have put a fourth.
The former Celtic striker believes that South Korean international Hyeongyu Oh could get a long-awaited start tonight but to do that it would mean Rodgers making a material shift from his trusted 4-3-3 formation.
John Hartson says Oh and Kyogo could start for Celtic vs Hibs
The big Welshman admits he is a huge fan of the 22-year-old and says he deserves to start against Nick Montgomery’s men tonight.
Hartson said [], “What we’ve seen a few times which I’ve been quite impressed with Oh is he’s come on in games when you need a physical presence coming on and making an impact in the game.
“Roughing up the centre-halves, being physical, putting his body on the line. Brendan has said that he’s not totally against playing the two of them.
“Maybe now we’ve got Hibs tomorrow and then Kilmarnock at the weekend, there may be an opportunity.
“Because every time he comes on he does quite well. He does alright. So maybe we might see Oh and Kyogo start.”
Change of formation for Celtic vs Hibs?
So would starting both players mean a change in formation for Brendan Rodgers? Admittedly, the Celtic manager could go with a 4-3-3 and play the Japanese striker on the wing but then that would mean dropping either Luis Palma or the rejuvenated Mikey Johnston.
Both players deserve to be in the side so it would be unfair to penalise them right now. Or Rodgers could go a simple 4-4-1-1 with Palma on the left of the midfield and Turnbull or Johnston on the right?
That would give Kyogo space in front of Oh to play the number 10 role and give Rodgers the ability to rotate both striker’s roles to mix it up if need be.
Whatever Rodgers decides to do it’s safe to say that the Korean is knocking at the door. It’s now up to Rodgers to decide if he wants to open it for him.
In other news, Three Serie A clubs set to make January offer for ‘fantastic’ 18-year-old Celtic player