| No doubting Naylor makes the grade
By Gerard Donaghy
With a plethora of candidates for Celtic’s Player-of-the-Season
this week we look at the season’s surprise package Lee Naylor.
The signing of the left-back from Championship side Wolves caused a few
raised eyebrows among Celtic fans not least because the deal saw promising
talent Charlie Mulgrew go in the other direction.
Mulgrew had spent a successful spell on-loan with Dundee United in the
second-half of last season and he looked set to solve Celtic’s troublesome
left-back position.
However an alleged bust-up with manager Gordon Strachan in the close-season
put paid to his Celtic career and his move to Wolves plus £600,000
saw Naylor arrive at Celtic Park.
Mo Camara, Ross Wallace, Adam Virgo and even Stephen McManus all failed
to flourish at left-back in the 2005-06 season which ended with right-back
Mark Wilson ably deputising on the opposite flank.
Hopes weren’t high that Naylor would be the answer to the problem
but the Englishman has been a revelation since his arrival.
Any doubts that he would have difficulty making the step up from the Championship
to Champions League football were eradicated early in his Celtic career.
Just a month after turning out for Wolves against Preston in a 3-1 defeat
at Molineux Naylor was lining out for Celtic at Old Trafford in just his
third game for the Hoops.
Despite a 3-2 defeat Naylor performed admirably and got his own back as
he helped Celtic to a 1-0 win over United in the return fixture at Celtic
Park.
In the last-16 of the Champions League Naylor helped smother the AC Milan
attack as the Italians were held to a goalless draw at Celtic Park and
he almost gave his side a precious lead only to see his 25-yard strike
curl wide.
In the San Siro Naylor prevented a certain goal with an excellent penalty
box challenge on Filippo Inzaghi and also stifled a goal-bound effort
from Brazilian striker Kaka.
His performances in the Champions League have even alerted England manager
Steve McClaren.
However the national team boss failed to call the Walsall man up to a
squad decimated by injuries and ultimately played Jamie Carragher out
of position in the dour draw with Israel last week.
Naylor’s defensive ability is complemented by his attacking prowess
and perhaps he could have made the difference as England sought three
valuable points in Tel Aviv.
For now though all Celtic fans are concerned about is that Naylor continues
turning out in the Hoops and does so for years to come.
n Who is your Celtic Player of the Year? You can vote for Lee Naylor or
any Celtic player by e-mailing your choice to: gerard
donaghy@irishpost.co.uk |
