The Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen has given the Celtic fans many talking points pore over in the last few days.
Joe Hart has hogged the headlines after the veteran ‘keeper missed his penalty and then saved the subsequent sudden death spot-kick to send Celtic through to the final in May.
James Forrest has also been the man of the hour after the winger came on as a second-half substitute to have a massive effect on the game.
But this time, it’s Liam Scales who is the topic of much discussion amongst the Celtic fans after his performance at Hampden on Saturday.
Celtic fans discuss ‘over the top’ Scales criticism
Two of Aberdeen’s late equalisers both came from exposing Celtic’s left side of the defence and, to be honest, it’s not the first time the opposition has tried this tactic.
Aberdeen used it to great effect on Saturday and it was this thread on X that started the conversation about the Celtic defender:
Now it must be recognised that had it not been for Scales’ early season form, who knows where Celtic would be at this stage of the season?
Shining in the Scottish Premiership and in the Champions League, the Irishman has been superb up until now.
However, of late, his weaknesses have been exposed and against Aberdeen, he seemed caught out of position at both of The Dons’ equalisers.
And that has elicited this discussion about the defender from the fans:
This Celtic fan is grateful for Scales’ contribution but also honest about his future at Celtic:
Whilst another has a suggestion on who should start ahead of him:
This fan believes Scales should be used as a last resort:
Whilst these next three Celtic fans defend Scales furiously:
Upgrade required on Scales for Europe says this Celtic fan:
Rodgers faces big Scales/Nawrocki call vs Dundee
The long and short of it is that Rodgers does seem to like Liam Scales and the big telling point will come this weekend.
The Celtic manager and the team now have five league games to go in the league title race and if Scales starts against Dundee on Sunday, it is likely he is the man that will stay in the team and start the Scottish Cup Final. Barring injury, of course.
Scales started and finished every single Champions League group game and impressed.
And, aside from the opening two games of the season, the Irishman has started and finished every Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup fixture this season apart from when he was injured for St Johnstone and rested in the 3-0 St Mirren win. [Transfermarkt]
So it is clear that Brendan Rodgers trusts him.
Liam Scales has been one of Celtic’s top performers
We can all see with our own eyes the pros and cons of what Liam Scales has contributed to Celtic’s season. But what do the stats say?
According to Fotmob, the Irish defender has been Celtic’s second-best player this season behind Matt O’Riley with an average rating of 7.76.
Scales’ passing is also just behind first-placed Cameron Carter-Vickers at 88.7% successful completion.
However, he is the seventh-best tackler at the club after completing an average of just 1.1 tackles per game with a success rate of 65.7%.
But he is the club’s top performer at clearances with 3.9 completed every ninety minutes, interceptions at 0.8 and the best at blocking with an average of 0.7 per match.
The only question is do the fans trust that he is good enough to get us over the line in this season’s title race? Only time will tell but the stats do look in his favour.