Celtic are cruising to their 8th Premiership title in a row and are also well placed to complete their third treble in as many years. Change in manager midway through the season, missing out on Champions League, Rangers showing improvement, Celtic losing their best player in the summer in Moussa Dembele- all these factors still couldn’t stop the Hoops as they currently sit 10 points clear on the top of the table.
However, former England and Celtic striker believe that Celtic currently lack a consistent centre forward as he tweeted this.
Lack of a consistent centre forward has been a huge problem all season for Celtic…
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) March 17, 2019
Celtic spent good money and broke their all-time transfer record to sign Odsonne Edouard for £9m last summer. However, the former PSG striker hasn’t been consistent enough, and injuries have also plagued his time at Scotland. Nevertheless, we feel that Sutton is being slightly harsh on the big centre forward as he has delivered 18 goals this campaign.
It’s true that he hasn’t always managed to lead the line well, but one also needs to remember that the striker is still just 21. More importantly, he is still learning his trade at the top level. What Celtic have lacked is a decent backup option. Leigh Griffiths decided to take some time off football in December, and that put more pressure on the injury-prone Edouard.
Celtic brought in West Bromwich Albion winger Oliver Burke who showed promising signs initially but has faded slightly in the last few games. Celtic should have won the match against Dundee comfortably as they squandered quite a few opportunities in the final third. However, Edouard came to the rescue deep into stoppage time by scoring the crucial goal and that brought Celtic’s lead over Rangers to double digits.
With Burke and Timothy Weah just on loan, Celtic might have to go in for another striker in the summer. The absence of Vakoun Issouf Bayo from matchday squads (he was signed permanently by the club in the January window) isn’t a good sign for the club as he was supposed to be the long term alternative for Edouard.
We expect Lennon to give him game time now that Celtic have a decent lead at the top of the table as the fans would also want to see the potential in this £2m striker. If Issouf Bayo settles in well and Griffith can find his footing at the club after the break, then the Bhoys can have three decent strikers for the next season.
Sutton is correct that Celtic have struggled slightly with the inconsistent form of their strikers, but that has still been good enough so far as they find themselves in a strong position in the League.
