Will Celtic take the Mick McCarthy route in Vienna?
Some tough decisions for Tony Mowbray
You are playing a meaningless European match in Austria on Thursday night. On the Sunday, you travel to a tight ground to face opposition who will be more than up for match and you may be four points behind by the time you kick-off.
Tony Mowbray surely has an easy decision to make for his line-up in Vienna. He must pick the team that he feels will give him the best chance of winning away to Hearts on Sunday.
This is the sort of decision that Mick McCarthy has been slated for since he took a Wolves reserve team to Old Trafford but our sister site, WeKnowFA has defended McCarthy here.
There are two schools of thought in this situation.
1) Rest your players, keep them fresh for Sunday
2) Play your best team, keep momentum going.
It isn’t hard to see why Tony Mowbray may struggle to decide what team to pick. With four wins in a row, Celtic are finally gathering momentum. Going to Rapid and winning could see the confidence of the squad hit a new high, perfect timing for the Holiday period.
The Celtic fans won’t say no to delivering a beating (on the pitch) to Rapid Vienna either.
This is the argument for those who want a strong Celtic line up in Austria.
However, if one player was to get injured, Mowbray would be pilloried from here to New Year. A win on Thursday will get coefficient points but nothing else but a win on Sunday could bring the points that help Celtic reclaim their title.
Hearts players have had a blank week and they will be fully focussed for Celtic’s visit. Yes, Hearts have been off form this season but they always raise their game against Celtic. The Tynecastle home crowd would not accept anything less.
A tiring game on Thursday may not be the best preparation for the Hoops before they hit Edinburgh.
Mind you, with Aiden McGeady knowing that a booking on Sunday would rule him out of the New Year game versus Rangers, there are some Celtic fans wanting to prioritise the Rangers game over the Hearts game.
Who would be a football manager?
No matter what he decides, Tony Mowbray is not going to please everyone. Therefore, the solution for Tony is to pick the team that wins on Thursday and Sunday, that would (probably) keep the Celtic fans happy and leave them looking forward to Christmas.
Celtic fans, what would your Vienna line-up be?
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