Ally McCoist gave his verdict on defender Carl Starfelt on Sky Sports during Celtic’s draw with Rangers at Ibrox – and said that the Swedish man is regularly guilty of a lack of concentration, after his pass was intercepted in the second 45.
Starfelt, 27, clocked up his 60th appearance for Celtic on Monday as the Hoops went to Ibrox. A win for the Hoops would have surely seen them secure the Premiership title at this early stage – but a win for Rangers, and it was back on.
Neither happened. Celtic equalised late on, to make it 2-2. A better point for Celtic given Rangers were only a few minutes away from securing all three points. Daizen Maeda gave Celtic the lead, only for Ryan Kent to equalise at Ibrox.
Then, Starfelt fouled Fashion Sakala and James Tavernier netted a penalty. But it was Kyogo who popped up to nab an equaliser. With Rangers leading 2-1, Celtic won the ball back in their own penalty area and Starfelt had possession.
But he tried a risky looking pass out wide that was easily cut out by Malik Tillman – which saw the USA star then win a corner. McCoist, after Starfelt had given away the penalty, lambasted Celtic’s £4million defender for his concentration.
“With Carl Starfelt, Rangers can sense they can get something from him. There’s always a lack of concentration in his play. I don’t doubt he’s got a great partnership with Carter-Vickers, but teams can get at him,” McCoist told Sky Sports.
McCoist verdict on Celtic defender Starfelt during Rangers draw
Starfelt endured a poor afternoon. His rush of blood put Rangers ahead and his passing was particularly poor. There is no doubt that Cameron Carter-Vickers is the better of the two Celtic defenders. Yuki Kobayashi has been signed.
It might be that the Japan defender has been brought in to partner Carter-Vickers. Obviously, throwing the new man in against Alfredo Morelos in an Old Firm derby would have been risky. But Celtic need improvement in that position.
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