Stubbsslatesstarfelt, and questionsifhewilleverbe goodenoughforceltic
Alan Stubbs has sympathy for Celtic centre-back Carl Starfelt, having endured teething problem of his own after joining the Hoops from Bolton Wanderers in 1996.
He overcame initial problems to spend five years at Parkhead, winning many major honours under Wim Jansen, Kenny Dalglish and Martin O’neill.
But Stubbs doubts that Starfelt will see out a contract that doesn’t expire until 2025.
He claims that the 26-yearold – a £4 million signing from Rubin Kazan – hasn’t convinced during his six months with the club and, with Christopher Jullien weeks away from making a comeback, he struggles to see a future for him in Glasgow.
“I had high hopes for Starfelt when he arrived, but accepted he’d need time to settle – with a new club, in a new country, with a new manager and 12 new signings,” said Stubbs.
“He’d been capped by Sweden, and had played in Russia. So you cut him a bit of slack at first, especially since he was playing in what was a new back five, which hadn’t played together before.
“Unfortunately, he hasn’t progressed since then. Cameron Carter-vickers has come in beside him and, even though he’s younger and much less experienced, he now looks like the senior partner.
“It’s not easy to fill a Celtic shirt, but this has been a disappointing period for Carl. It just hasn’t happened for him.
“Scottish football can take a lot of getting used to – but how long do you wait for him?
“The game up here caught me out at first. It wasn’t until Marc Rieper and a few others were signed that I was able to relax and focus on my own game.
“It also didn’t help Carl that when we heard Celtic were signing a Swedish centre-half, most of us immediately thought of Johan Mjallby – and he’s no Johan Mjallby.”
Starfelt’s stuttering start has been made to look worse by the likes of Joe Hart, Josip Juranovic, Carter-vickers, Kyogo Furuhashi, Liel Abada and Jota hitting the ground running.
“Celtic’s recruitment policy has come under scrutiny for a couple of years now, and with good reason,” said Stubbs. “However, they seem to have mostly got it right since Ange Postecoglou arrived.
“Most of the new boys have made a positive impact, but Carl still hasn’t come to the fore.
“His strengths don’t jump out at you. Ideally, you want your central defender to read the game well, be quick, good in the air, comfortable with one-toones and be able to use the ball.
“You need them to tick at least three of those boxes – but he doesn’t really tick any.
“Ask any Celtic fan which area of the team they think needs strengthened, and his position will be high on the list.
“Jullien played in another bounce game on Wednesday, so he won’t be far away, and Stephen Welsh is still knocking on the door.
“Celtic’s defence has steadily improved as the season has gone on, but you wouldn’t say that’s down to Carl.
“It might be that he’s better suited to having the added protection of playing in a back three. But we all know Ange has one way of playing, and it doesn’t include that option.
“We want more from Carl, but we’re not seeing it, which begs the question: ‘Is there any more to come?’.
“Maybe being left out for a bit would do him a favour.
“But it’s fair to say that, up until now, his performances have been underwhelming, rather than overwhelming.”