Celtic need to get a better balance

Aiden McGeady tops the Celtic SPL assist list, which isn’t a surprise given the run of form the Republic of Ireland of star has been in of late. With two central midfielders more suited to sitting and pushing the ball wide, Celtic are definitely reliant on getting the ball wide to create chances.

There are two other Celtic players in the list of top 12 players for assists.

You may think that Scott McDonald or Georgios Samaras would be in there but no, the two other players are the full backs.

Andy Hinkel and Danny Fox have taken their fair share of criticism for the shambles that has been Celtic’s defence this season but they have played a strong role in the attacking play of the club.

It is not uncommon to see the Celtic wide men cut inside, allowing space for the full backs to overlap and cross, drive or cut balls back into the box. In fact, if the Celtic forwards could get into the box more often or learn how to finish, the full backs would likely have more assists to their name.

For all that both of the full backs are listed; their assists come from different styles.

Hinkel is the full-back who will get down to the by-line or into the box and then fizz the ball across whereas Fox takes a great number of dead ball situations for Celtic.

Maybe not as well as many Celtic fans would wish for but with 3 assists, considering he has missed a number of games through injury, he hasn’t done too badly in the oppositions half.

They both need to improve their defensive work though. Hinkel’s marking for cross balls coming to the back post area leave a lot to be desired and Danny Fox needs to work harder to stop crosses coming into the Celtic area.

The presence of Celtic’s full backs in the assist table shows that Tony Mowbray is bringing his style of football to Celtic Park…but is it at the expense of defensive solidity?

Celtic’s attacking full-backs…good or bad?

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