For Celtic, not even a sensational transfer window would likely allow them to be able to bridge the gap to Rangers.
The Gers are currently 21 points ahead of Neil Lennon’s team who are seemingly sinking without a trace.
The late goal that Celtic conceded to Hibernian on Monday evening just about summed things up. With 13 players and Neil Lennon self-isolating as a precautionary measure following a positive test, they, once again, dropped points.
This season has been a disastrous one for the Hoops, and Peter Lawwell could inflict further misery on the club by sanctioning a transfer for Adam Reach.
Reach, who currently plays for Sheffield Wednesday, is available on a free transfer with his contract expiring this summer. As alluded to earlier this week on FFC, he'd represent a bargain, but there are negatives to this potential deal going through.
Celtic and Rangers are reportedly both monitoring his situation with a view to offering Reach a contract. However, it’s difficult to suggest for one moment that this would be a good signing for The Hoops.
All you need to do is look at the stats. The winger may have contributed to four goals this campaign but beyond that, there is a lack of consistent threat and penetration in the final third.
As a winger, your primary job should be to create opportunities and beat your marker, but Reach regularly fails to do either of those on a regular basis. For the Owls this season, he’s managed just 0.5 key passes per match and only 0.5 dribbles per game.
For context, those tallies are both below both Scott Brown, a midfielder, and Kristoffer Ajer, a centre-back, in the Celtic side. That’s incredibly damning when you consider they both play in defensive roles. Furthermore, the number of dribbles he manages per game is identical to the aforementioned Celtic players.
Now, with that in mind, we needn’t say much more. Reach is a winger but he lacks consistency and at times, it looks like he can’t even manage the basic fundamentals of someone that plays on the flanks.
Yes, the Hoops enjoy more possession in the SPFL than Sheff Wed do in the Championships but it speaks volumes about how average the Wednesday winger is as an attacking force when his stats equate to those of Brown and Ajer.
Reach did score against Exeter in the FA Cup last weekend but his performance beyond that was pretty poor, especially against a League Two side. He lost possession an inexcusable 21 times – the fourth highest on his team – and completed just 73% of his passes. Not exactly great numbers against a League Two club.
Even though he’d cost Lawwell absolutely nothing, this would still be a poor acquisition. Reach, who earns £23k-per-week, isn’t good enough and he has done little this term to convince us that he’d be consistent enough to deliver the goods at Parkhead.
If Celtic want to close the gap at the top and rediscover their dominance, they must forget about the Wednesday attacker and look at better options.