“Main problem was that not everyone in the club's management was as convinced about this transfer as the coaches,” Dmitri Vinokurov said, and Celtic now have a different selection issue in front of them. Sam Johnstone kept a clean sheet on his debut against ST Johnstone last night, and he is in contention to keep his Celtic place for Sunday's Premier Sports Cup meeting with Rangers.
Johnstone's case for the Old Firm tie
The selection argument is thin in one sense and pretty straightforward in another. Johnstone has 0 Celtic appearances and 0 minutes this season, so O'Neill is not weighing up a long run of games. He is weighing up one debut, one clean sheet and the chance to keep faith before the Old Firm cup tie.
Sam Johnstone kept one clean sheet on his latest Celtic appearance, which is the only hard evidence O'Neill has from his spell so far. Celtic have won all 5 of their most recent league matches, while Rangers have won 4 of their last 5, so Sunday's game will not ask for a safety-first pick on form alone.
The VAR talking point in Perth
The other issue from Perth was the disallowed Celtic goal. VAR was unable to weigh in because the ball went out of the camera frame, and the footage could not conclusively prove that the assistant referee was wrong to say a cross from Sebastian Tounekti had gone out of play.
That leaves the decision in the usual awkward place for Celtic. The goal stays disallowed, the debate stays open, and O'Neill's bigger call is still the one between sticking with Johnstone or changing again before Rangers arrive on Sunday.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
