Three of Irish football's brightest prospects signed for Celtic - but none of them have got a look in

Aidan Fitzmaurice

Lee O’Connor has signed for Tranmere on loan

August 19 2020 02:30 AM

Lee O'Connor could probably hear the Champions League music ringing in his ears when he put pen to paper for Celtic 11 months ago.

The Waterford native had left one European Cup-winning club, Manchester United, for another one, in Glasgow.

But when the Bhoys began their long and arduous Champions League qualification campaign last night, at home to KR Reykjavik, O'Connor was a painfully long way away from the action - geographically and metaphorically speaking.

He was making his debut for Tranmere Rovers in a pre-season friendly against Welsh outfit The New Saints, having joined the League Two side on a season-long loan deal on Monday.

Just one season of his four-year deal with Celtic has passed, so it's too early to say that the move to Parkhead by one of the brightest stars in Stephen Kenny's Ireland U-21 side is definitely the wrong career choice.

Currently, there are three very promising young Irish talents on the books at Celtic but they are nowhere near the first-team plans.

Jonathan Afolabi at Celtic training.

The complete lack of game-time in a Celtic shirt for O'Connor, Luca Connell and Jonathan Afolabi is a real concern.

O'Connor has more senior caps than he has league appearances for Celtic. And while Connell was held back by injury, in the space of a year he has gone from impressing in training with Mick McCarthy's senior Ireland squad to his current status - in the shadows at Parkhead and hoping for a loan move away.

The Irish presence at Celtic was very strong when O'Connor switched from United: Jonny Hayes was in the team, Damien Duff was first-team coach, and players he knew from Ireland's underage set-up (Connell and Afolabi) had already been signed.

It seemed like a good move with Parkhead more likely to offer first-team football than Old Trafford, and within weeks of becoming a Celtic player O'Connor had an Ireland cap on his CV - an impressive debut at home to New Zealand.

But he remained out of Neil Lennon's line of sight and by January of this year was moved out on loan, to second-tier side Partick Thistle.

It did not go well for O'Connor or the club as he was demoted to the bench, the season was held up by Covid-19 and, in the end, Partick were relegated.

It begs the question as to whether the door to the first team could have opened at United in that fixture-clogged finish to the season, had he stayed there.

Roy Keane would admit that his move to Celtic, post-Old Trafford at the end of his playing career, was a mistake ("I look back on my time there and I'm a bit embarrassed"), and that his big regret was snubbing Everton to join Celtic.

While the young trio of O'Connor, Connell and Afolabi have not progressed in their year at Celtic, some of their Irish contemporaries have moved up the ladder.

The rushed nature of the resumed English season in July opened up opportunities for some Irish players in the Championship: Alex Hunt (Sheffield Wednesday) and Ryan Burke (Birmingham City) got appearances at the end of term, while Conor Grant (also Wednesday) made the bench, and the likes of Jason Knight (Derby) also gained more experience; however Connell has yet to kick a ball in anger since he left Bolton Wanderers for Celtic last summer.

Celtic could argue that their Irish talents were signed with an eye on the future (O'Connor and Connell have four-year deals, Afolabi three years), and in time they could deliver in the hooped shirt.

Treading water for one year, as they have done, is not ideal. But for them to spend another year in cold storage or stagnating in the Celtic reserves would leave some serious potholes in their career paths.

Former Ireland and Manchester United skipper Keane reckoned that a move to Everton when he left Old Trafford could have extended his career by three years - after 10 league games for Celtic he was done. Irish football can't afford for Lee O'Connor and Luca Connell to also become Celtic casualties.