Exclusive: McNamara suggests what ‘Biggest problem’ facing Celtic is amid reported speculation
Jackie McNamara suggested the biggest problem facing Celtic was being able to utilise every member of their squad.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider correspondent Laura O’Leary, the Hoops legend admitted players such as Leigh Griffiths were already struggling for minutes, so January signings were only going to add to the problems.
It was recently reported that the Hoops were being proactive in their search for a new striker with Neil Lennon previously admitting it was possible a new attacker may be signed in the winter window.
McNamara explained that with Lennon unable to mix it up due to every game having immense pressure on it, then any new striker that joined would instantly have to be ready to challenge first-choice option Odsonne Edouard.
When asked how Griffiths is expected to get his sharpness back if Celtic end up signing a new forward, McNamara told Football Insider: “Yeah exactly, and I think that is the biggest problem.
“Lennon really hasn’t mixed it up, I think purely because of the pressure in every game, St Mirren away or Hibs away, Hibs home, or whatever it is, because Rangers are doing well.
“It’s very difficult for him to freshen things up and make a lot of changes, he got to do it in Europe, I know it was against Cluj but he got to give some guys a chance, but they never really took it.
“I think that’s difficult, but even if you bring strikers in now, they need to be ready to go challenge and play with Edouard as Griffiths and Bayo have been waiting for opportunities since the summer.
“Both of them got injured, then fell down the pecking order, but you also have Rogic, Sinclair, so there’s a lot of players there that you’ve not seen.”
Griffiths has managed to feature 18 times for the Hoops this season, with fellow back-up striker Vakoun Issouf Bayo only racking up a total of 12 appearances.
Edouard is currently the Hoops first-choice striker and has racked up 16 goals in 31 outings in the current campaign.
In other Celtic news, Alan Hutton claims that one senior star was let down by the rest of the side at Parkhead.