Junior Adamu was riding high after making his Celtic debut against Dundee at the start of February. The January signing scored in stoppage time to force extra time in the Scottish Cup tie, and Martin O’Neill’s side went on to progress from there.
However, Adamu has now gone two games running without getting off the bench, and Michael Stewart has raised questions about why Daizen Maeda continues to be preferred to the on-loan SC Freiburg forward. Stewart drew attention to Maeda’s current form and the fact that he has not been performing to his usual standards, yet he keeps getting the nod.
Auston Trusty’s red card undoubtedly altered the course of the Hibs match, but that came in the 74th minute, by which point O’Neill had already used several substitutions. At the hour mark, with the scores level, O’Neill brought Maeda and Reo Hatate on in place of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Tomas Cvancara. A short while later, and still before Trusty’s dismissal, Marcelo Saracchi and James Forrest were introduced. Adamu remained unused throughout, prompting Stewart to highlight Celtic’s problems in attack and why a player operating well below his best is being selected ahead of a fresher option.
Speaking on BBC Sport, Stewart was direct in his assessment. He said there is clearly a lack of cutting edge at Celtic and questioned what the issue is with Adamu, pointing out that when the team needed a goal, the manager turned to Maeda, who has been nowhere near the level he showed in previous seasons.
Striking problems have plagued Celtic all campaign, stretching back to the time of Brendan Rodgers and continuing through Wilfried Nancy’s troubled 33-day stint in charge. Despite additions in January, that lack of firepower has yet to be resolved. Since the winter window closed, Celtic’s goals have come from Tomas Cvancara, Benjamin Nygren with four, Junior Adamu, Sebastian Tounekti with two, Marcelo Saracchi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Julian Araujo.