The 3 Celtic derby standouts who have given Brendan Rodgers a headache and now for the fascinating part - Chris Sutton
Paulo Bernardo superb. Liam Scales outstanding. Greg Taylor terrific.
Brendan Rodgers wants competition for places, depth and quality for the upcoming challenges both domestically and, crucially, in Europe. But now he also might have landed himself with some welcome headaches. On the closing day of the transfer window, the purchases of Arne Engels for a club-record fee of £11 million and Auston Trusty for another £6million captured the imagination of the fans.
Throw into the mix the arrivals of Dundee’s Luke McCowan and Alex Valle, of Barcelona, and there was much to be enthused about. Looking at the positions where those boys all play, you could see the points where the manager wanted strengthened. However, the response of the boys in those positions against Rangers was absolutely superb.
Engels, Trusty, McCowan and Valle, not to mention £9 million arrival Adam Idah, all had to don tracksuits for Old Firm kick-off with the starting line-up set and in rhythm. You have to say, the boys that stayed in place sent out a clear message they won’t be dislodged easily. Engels has arrived for that massive fee and he clearly seems to be a player of talent that had been targeted by Rodgers.
You can’t tell after 30 minutes, but he looked smooth enough and good with the ball when getting his chance for a quickfire debut. Elegant was a word used by the manager and that seems fair enough on that short evidence. Clearly, it is going to take a good one to step into the breach left by Matt O’Riley alongside captain Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate.
But Bernardo sure laid out his claims in the Old Firm. He had previous by scoring and making goals in the fixture and he was magnificent for his hour on the park before his place was taken