The recent transfer talk today has all been about how Brendan Rodgers plans to trim the Celtic squad and replace the outgoings with players of real quality.
It seems that those who haven’t featured much under Rodgers have until January to prove what they can do or they will need to find a new club.
One of the players that has struggled for gametime recently is 24-year-old midfielder, David Turnbull. The Scottish international has been hailed by Rodgers as one of the most technical players at the club. So that begs the question.
If Turnbull really is that good, why has the Celtic manager not picked him more often? Former Rangers striker, Kenny Miller, believes he knows the answer to that.
What Kenny Miller has said about Celtic’s David Turnbull
Now, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Turnbull is not featuring as much at Celtic this season because of the form of Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley.
O’Riley has been ‘exquisite‘ for Celtic so far this season. And whilst Hatate initially struggled for form, he was really coming onto a game before the injury he picked up against Atletico Madrid last week.
But now an opportunity has arisen for Turnbull but it seems that he may still not be selected by Rodgers after Kenny Miller said he’s out of the team not because of his footballing ability but because he doesn’t do enough running.
Miller said [Clyde SSB], “It’s not only how good a player is. It’s the energy they can bring to the team as well not only in an attacking sense but also off the ball as well.
“Turnbull’s maybe not got that type of engine and that type of energy. He is a wonderful football player and he started the season, let’s not forget, he was getting picked ahead of Hatate at the start of the season.”
The gripe many Celtic fans have when Turnbull plays is that he slows the game down. That’s nothing to do with his running, it’s just that he doesn’t release the ball quickly enough when moving forward.
Where Hatate sees a pass instantly, Turnbull seems to take a little longer to try and work out where he is playing and by then the most obvious pass is gone.
Turnbull is out of contract at the end of the season. An opportunity may present itself to him in the coming weeks. If it does, he needs to take it or he may find himself out of the club in January.
In other news, ‘That worries me’: Barry Ferguson says he’s concerned at what could happen at Celtic under Brendan Rodgers