Not just Johnny Kenny: Nancy must finally drop Celtic flop who won 0 duels
Wilfried Nancy finally picked up his first win in charge of Celtic on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Aberdeen at Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership.
The French head coach had lost his first four matches in the dugout for the Hoops, the worst start by any manager in the club’s history, and he will be hoping that this latest result can kickstart a successful tenure in Glasgow.
Goals from Benjamin Nygren, Kieran Tierney, and James Forrest earned the hosts all three points, but there were still several players who underperformed, including Johnny Kenny.
Why Johnny Kenny should be dropped by Celtic
The Ireland international was given another chance to lead the line up front for the Scottish giants, with Kelechi Iheanacho out with another injury, and failed to take it.
Per Sofascore, the 22-year-opld centre-forward failed to find the back of the net from four shots on goal, as he missed two ‘big chances’, before being taken off in the 70th minute.
Unfortunately, sloppy finishing has become a theme for Kenny in the Premiership this season, as he missed an absolute sitter in the defeat to Dundee United earlier in the week.
The Irishman has missed a staggering nine ‘big chances’ in six starts in the league this season, including four in the last two matches, which is why Nancy must drop him from the side for the clash with Livingston next time out.
Nygren, who has scored eight goals in all competitions this season, could be an interesting option for the manager to call upon as a replacement for Kenny.
Kenny, though, is not the only undperformer from the win over Aberdeen who should be dropped from the line-up for the game against Livingston.
The Celtic flop who should finally be dropped by Nancy
These last five games will have been incredibly informative for Nancy as he gets to learn which of his players he can trust and which of those he cannot, like Kenny.
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Unfortunately, first-choice goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel’s performances continue to suggest that he is set to fall into the latter category, as he struggled once again against Aberdeen.
The veteran Danish shot-stopper had a nightmare for ten-man Aberdeen’s equaliser in the second-half, as he was slow to get down to Bilalovic’s shot, which bounced off the goalkeeper’s hand and went backwards into the back of the net.
Schmeichel, who was given a 4/10 player rating by 67HailHail, conceded one of the two shots against him in the game and won zero duels, which shows that he had little to do in the match aside from the goal that Aberdeen scored.
Unfortunately, it was not a rare mistake from the experienced goalkeeper. Just a couple of games ago, the ex-Premier League title-winner was caught out for Jonah Ayunga’s header in the League Cup final.
On top of those clear errors in the last few matches, Schmeichel has conceded 2.31 more goals than expected in the Premiership based on the xG of the shots against him, and 1.58 more than expected in the Europa League, per FotMob.
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Nancy, therefore, must finally drop the 39-year-old flop from the starting line-up, as well as Kenny, because he has been a liability between the sticks this season, domestically and in Europe.
24/25 Premiership
Viljami Sinisalo
Appearances
6
Save percentage
78.9%
Clean sheets
2
Error led to goal
0
Goals prevented
+2.52
Goals conceded
4
Stats via FotMob
As you can see in the table above, second-choice Viljami Sinisalo performed well when given an opportunity in the Premiership last season, conceding 2.52 fewer goals than expected.
His 0.42 goals prevented per 90 would work out at 15.96 goals prevented over a 38-game season in the league, whilst Schmeichel is currently on course to concede 5.32 more than expected with -0.14 goals prevented per 90, per FotMob.
These statistics suggest that the Finland international, who is yet to start a league game this season, has the potential to be a big upgrade on the Danish number one as a shot-stopper.
Sinisalo has not played a single minute for Nancy in any competition in the last five matches, but he should finally be given a chance to play because of Schmeichel’s poor form.
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