Celtic began their 2020/21 Champions League campaign in fine style, swatting aside KR Reykjavik at Parkhead in a game that was over little more than half an hour into the game.
With the score at 4-0 after 46 minutes many would have expected Neil Lennon to wrap his star men up in cotton wool or those that will be expected to play upwards of 60 games in a packed domestic, continental and international calendar, however, it wasn’t until over the hour mark when he made his first change, Scott Brown coming off for Olivier Ntcham.
Given the standard of opposition, the skipper’s services shouldn’t really have been required, especially with a player of Ntcham’s quality on the bench and a tricky away fixture against newly promoted Dundee United to look forward to at the weekend where his obvious physical and leadership qualities will be required.
Starting Odsonne Edouard was always going to happen given the importance of the fixture, however, with Albian Ajeti on the bench and the game won, it would have made more sense to make the swap earlier than the 73rd minute and give the Swiss international longer on the park with his new teammates.
Should Lennon have rested more key men against Reykjavik?
Yes
No
If Edouard was short of confidence or needing a goal then the decision could be understood, but risking the health of such a key figure when the game is over is one that just didn’t need to be taken.
Celtic fans have been here before with Lennon, yes, he gets a lot of things right in terms of consistency of selection and game plan but he has yet to master the art of rotating his squad or resting players when an obvious opportunity presents itself, again, if Callum McGregor can’t get any time off against a side like Reykjavik, he is in for yet another long season – hopefully, the gaffer’s stubbornness to protect his most valuable assets won’t come back to haunt him.