Journalist Alison McConnell has recently made a claim about Olivier Ntcham and his situation in the current Celtic first-team.
McConnell appeared as a guest on the latest episode of PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show and the panel discussed many issues surrounding Scottish football. They discussed the situation of many Celtic players and one player that they talked about was Ntcham. McConnell described the Frenchman as a ‘luxury player’ and she had other things to say about the midfielder as well.
Ntcham has been linked with moves to Southampton, Everton and West Ham in recent weeks and it has been reported that these clubs are in a ‘transfer race’ for the midfielder (as per 90Min).
McConnell believes that while Ntcham can sometimes play with ‘elegance’ and ‘grace’, he needs more ‘consistency’ and because of that, he comes across as a ‘luxury player’ for the Bhoys.
She said: “I think if you are Neil Lennon, you look at Ntcham and you’re thinking – one, why are you not getting it every single week? Because he comes on sometimes and he has an exquisite touch. He plays with [an] elegance and a grace in certain games.
Is Ntcham a luxury player for Celtic?
Yes, he is
Absolutely not!
“He responds well to the high calibre and the high-pressure games, but you just need more consistency from him. I think sometimes, he feels like a luxury player maybe.”
TIF Thoughts…
Ntcham’s first start of the current season came in Celtic’s recent Premiership game against Dundee United and kept his place in Wednesday’s defeat to Ferencvaros. Before that, he only made appearances from the bench against KR Reykjavik, Hamilton and Kilmarnock (as per Transfermarkt).
Against Dundee United, Ntcham racked up a Whoscored rating of 6.66 only, which was the fourth-worst out of all Celtic players who featured in the game.
That doesn’t reflect well on Ntcham and his abilities as a player. So the Frenchman may need to come up with better performances to stake a claim to a spot in the Celtic first-team. Only then would Neil Lennon completely trust him.