Scottish football might get a rough time in Europe but it’s world class when it comes to knee-jerking.
Fans in this country could give the can-can dancers in the Moulin Rouge a run for their money with the flaying of legs in this country. There’s a constant rush to make judgements and players and managers are either immediately hopeless or the best thing since the first baker to take a knife to a loaf, with no in between.
The thing is, the in between should really be the place for those knees to sit – for a good while at least. Every club in the country has their jerkers but some are louder than most. And even though it’s pretty much been a breeze for Celtic this season, they’ve also got a fair few can-canners in the crowd. After a couple of off days, now it’s Arne Engels ’s turn to find out just how wild it can be in this parts.
A fortnight ago the Belgian kid was better than Matt O’Riley and destined to become the most expensive Scottish sale in history by smashing the £40m barrier.Now he’s all hype and should be taking his place in the midfield queue behind Reo Hatate, Paulo Bernardo and Luke McCowan. Hey, is Odin Thiago Holm still around? Is James McCarthy still on the books? It’s quite the swing. It’s also complete nonsense.
There was always going to be a slight dip with Engels once the dust settled on his whirlwind start at Celtic. This is a youngster who made his debut in an Old Firm win, notched a cool penalty on his full debut against Hearts and then scored and soared in the Champions League win against Slovan Bratislava. At St Johnstone last weekend he was literally head and shoulders above everyone on the pitch and looked like someone’s dad had came into the playground for a kickabout with the kids.
Sure, he struggled against Borussia Dortmund. There was an argument that Celtic had paid £11m for the guy to play in the Champions League yet couldn’t produce the goods in that game. It was grossly unfair. Engels was far from alone in having a poor night in Germany – no Celtic player got out of that one with much credit.
The Dortmund drubbing was also only his second game at that level. Yes, he cost a decent whack, but he’s just turned 21 and he was never going to be the full package right from the get-go, even if that was the instant knee-jerk reaction to his first couple of games. Engels wasn’t on it in Dingwall either and was eventually hooked, but this was the inevitable drop off that will have been expected given he’s still now finished unpacking his cases and has been running on adrenalin.
It’ll settle down for the playmaker and there’s every chance those spectacular first few games will be the norm rather than the last couple.
It works both ways though. Alex Valle is another who got the knee-jerk reaction. The Barcelona kid got bullied a coupe of times in his debut against Falkirk and was written off as the new Alexandro Bernabei. A stormer in Dingwall and he’s now the new Roberto Carlos. Chill folks.
Valle clearly has got pedigree having been on the fringes at the Lou Camp. But he’s still finding his feet in Scotland. The Bairns game was a crash course for the kid but he showed signs he’d learned from the introduction against Ross County. Valle has plenty of ability going forward and it’ going to be interesting once Greg Taylor gets back fit.
The regular left back has been superb for Celtic for a number of seasons now but with some injury problems and a new contract yet to be agreed, it might not be a case of walking back into the side. Mind you, Taylor was another one who got an early judgement that had to be revised, so the youngster doesn’t need to go look far for advice.
Adam Idah was derided as a duff signing in January, became a hero in May and returned like a king in August. Now he’s got folk questioning his form and fee again, even though he’s notching regularly and scored one of the goals of the season last week. Likewise Auston Trusty he got flayed after Falkirk, serenaded after St Johnstone and the battered following Dortmund.
He needs to be allowed to find his feet after being thrown in to replace Cameron Carter-Vickers on the more unfamiliar right side of the centre of defence. There needs to be a bit of chill. The fact there’s options for boss Brendan Rodgers only adds to the debate, with all these positions.
When it comes to Engels, having Hatate, Bernardo and McCowan around will mean all of them will have big roles to play. And it will allow Rodgers to rotate and rest when the time is right. Engels is still young and he’ll need to be developed. All of the tools are there for him to become a right good player and the transfer fee prophecy is still on the cards.
It will just take a bit of patience from punters rather than the usual knees up.