Charlie Nicholas has once again demonstrated why he is no longer employed by Sky Sports as a pundit with his latest offerings in The Express, as reported by The Daily Record.
The former Celt claims that Neil Lennon should have moved for Scott McKenna instead of allowing the Scotland cap to head south to Nottingham Forest.
So what has Nicholas said?
When looking at the deal that has seen the Aberdeen stopper move for a £3million fee upfront plus add-ons, he said:
“At that sort of price range, Celtic should have moved for the Scotland international.
“They brought in another physical defender in Shane Duffy earlier this month, but they have only got him on loan for one season from Brighton and I don’t think he’s significantly better than McKenna.
“McKenna still has a fair bit to go before we can say he’s good enough to compete with the best in Europe, but Celtic could have improved him.
“McKenna has a decent left foot which gives teams balance at centre-half. His physicality is strong and he can compete like Duffy.
“I don’t understand why Celtic didn’t consider trying to do a deal for the 23-year-old. If they were keen on him two years ago when Aston Villa had a £7m bid rejected then why not now when he can be bought for only £3m?
“They would have been able to develop McKenna and he could have enhanced his CV with trophies and cemented his place in the Scotland national team.
“By the time he turned 27 or 28 his value would have doubled, if not trebled.”
So is Nicholas correct?
In a word, no. McKenna simply isn’t good enough, every time he plays for Scotland – through a lack of other viable alternatives – he looks more and more out of his depth.
He is a big, physical lad, but at Celtic he would have to be more positive in possession and defend higher up the park, something he just isn’t capable of and in Shane Duffy, Neil Lennon has a player who has played at the highest level of domestic and international football.
Scott McKenna or Shane Duffy?
Duffy
McKenna
The Republic of Ireland skipper might only be on loan but there is every chance that the Hoops will be able to retain his services for longer if all goes well this season, he obviously isn’t part of Brighton’s plans having been allowed to leave in the first place.
Any opportunity that Nicholas can get to take a dig at his former club is taken, it’s just a surprise that it’s not been about Odsonne Edouard’s celebrations or the colour of Albian Ajeti’s boots or other such nonsense.