'The line from the club is...' - Kieran Devlin addresses Christopher Jullien's Celtic absence

Christopher Jullien’s absence from the Celtic squad on Sunday was neither tactical nor injury-related, according to The Athletic‘s Kieran Devlin. 

The 28-year-old made a long-awaited return to the matchday squad for the Scottish Cup fourth round clash with Alloa Athletic on 22 January. It had been more than a year since he sustained a serious knee injury against Dundee United.

The £20,000-per-week Frenchman was also named on the bench for the Premiership games against Hearts and the Terrors, but there was no sign of him last week against Rangers, nor against Motherwell on Sunday.

Ange Postecoglou has selected Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers for each of the last four matches, with Stephen Welsh and Liam Scales also waiting in the wings.

On The Athletic‘s matchday discussion board, a Celtic supporter noted the ‘interesting’ absence of Jullien from the matchday squad at Fir Park over the weekend.

In reply, Devlin admitted that it was a rather curious situation, stating: “Don’t think it’s a tactical decision on Jullien, though the line from the club is that it’s not tied to injury either. Unsure exactly what’s happening there, Postecoglou and his staff very protective around injury info.”

There’s a possibility that Jullien is missing for personal reasons, and that could explain why Celtic are fairly tight-lipped. In that case, it is best not to speculate, and instead consider whether Jullien will be able to dislodge either Carter-Vickers or Starfelt in the coming weeks.

It’s hard to see Postecoglou dropping the latter as Celtic try to sign him permanently from Tottenham Hotspur, although Starfelt has been questioned by some in the media. For instance, in recent weeks sports journalist Josh Bunting called him an