A lot has been said about Celtic’s Ibrox showing.
It was a slap in the face for Brendan Rodgers and a much-needed wake-up call as the champions dominate at the top of Scottish football.
Any Celtic defeat to Rangers is going to be met with anger, frustration and annoyance, but you sense, reputations have probably resulted in the reaction being far less nasty this time around.
The team as a whole have been outstanding this season, even to this date, the Bhoys have only dropped points in three matches, they have the League Cup trophy in hand and are 11 points clear at the top of the table.
But that performance at Ibrox was perhaps the worst under Rodgers since he returned to the club last summer.
One of the key issues – and this was apparent at Hampden – was the inability to play out from the back and deal with Rangers’ press.
Mark Wilson stated that, going by the two performances, Rodgers is treating Auston Trusty and Liam Scales differently in Celtic colours.
Mark Wilson questions what has happened to Auston Trusty at Celtic
Trusty was hauled off at half-time at Hampden for Scales, but the Irishman was kept on for the whole match at Ibrox.
This is despite the latter producing an equally poor performance and constantly giving the ball away.
Wilson told Open Goal that Rodgers isn’t holding ‘Scales to the same standards’ by not dropping him, as he doesn’t know what has happened to Trusty.
What has happened to Trusty,” asked Si Ferry to which Wilson responded: “45 minutes in the cup final. Was he any worse than what Scales was (at Ibrox)?
“That’s why I am thinking at half-time, he has done it with Trusty at half-time in the cup final, so he is obviously going to make a change here. But he didn’t quite hold Scales to the same standards.
“I don’t know what’s happened to Trusty. I don’t know where you strengthen with Celtic (in January). But I always think with a club like Celtic, there is always pressure from the fans. I don’t think they are ever happy. This whole bank balance compared to who they are bringing in. They obviously need somebody to bring in. But I don’t know which position.
Trusty’s stats for Celtic this season
Scales was a strong performer for Celtic last season, but more depth was needed to be brought in, so the powers that be turned to Trusty.
A healthy transfer fee was paid for the American, so it was going to obvious that he would be handed a chance sooner rather than later.
In truth, when Trusty initially replaced Scales in the XI, the latter didn’t do much wrong, but now it’s going to be interesting to see who Rodgers starts for Celtic’s clash against St Mirren.
WhoScored have rated Trusty’s performances at 7.29 in the Premiership this season.
