Davie Hay: Jozo Simunovic could be main man for Celtic

For whatever reason the club were willing to pocket the money and allow the young Croatian to go – but in actual fact as this season develops I don’t think it would be too surprising to see him push himself into one of the first choice spots at the back.

Before the acquisition of Kolo Toure this summer I had felt that Simunovic and Erik Sviatchenko might have been the best partnership – but what Brendan Rodgers has now is a decent bit of competition for places.

Read more: Ryan Christie believes Leigh Griffiths can add bite to Celtic attack

I wouldn’t expect Toure to play every game purely because of his age so there are options there now to change things around a bit.

What I have always felt, however, is that you can tweak forward players but the basis of a solid defensive unit has to be drawn through consistency of selection. Having the same players going out together is a vital cog in establish an understanding – an understanding that leads to a strong and confident backline.

Read more: Ryan Christie believes Leigh Griffiths can add bite to Celtic attack

With that, comes the goalkeeper. The season that Virgil van Dijk and Jason Denayer played regularly together was the same season that Craig Gordon also performed very well and I don’t think there is any co-incidence to that.

I still feel that the goalkeeping situation is an area where the manager has already made his call, regardless of whether I think that Dorus de Vries has convinced or not.

What I would say is that whoever is playing in goal – and De Vries has the jersey – then playing behind the same defenders every weekend at least lends itself to an understanding developing.

You would have to say that while Rodgers is clearly a fan of de Vries having worked with him before at Swansea, there is still a few doubters among observers over whether or not he is a better goalkeeper than Gordon.

Those doubts are relatively meaningless if the manager has made his call, which he appears to have done, but it is really up to the goalkeeper now to go out and prove that he is in there because he deserves to be.

There is a real scrutiny on the position now because of what has happened over the past few weeks and given the fact that he perhaps came into the team before he was fully fit, it might be that he requires an opportunity to cement his place in the side.

I would certainly expect to see him back in between the sticks for the game against Kilmarnock tomorrow afternoon.

You would want to see a decent performance to pave the way into the midweek Champions League meeting with Manchester City.

The game against Alloa on Wednesday night might not have been a classic but it was all about the result and I do think that the competition benefits from having the final played in November.

The Betfred Cup will be the first silverware on offer this season and I do think if you are successful in getting your hands on it then it can set a foundation for the remainder of the campaign.

And while there have been a few suggestions about the League Cup being meaningful only as part of a full domestic Treble, I don’t really subscribe to that, to be honest.

Read more: Ryan Christie believes Leigh Griffiths can add bite to Celtic attack

Celtic have missed out on this competition recently. For a long time it was a tournament that seemed to be their bogey, but no matter what a winners’ medal is a winners’ medal.

That is what it is all about for players – having silverware to show for their efforts. That is what they all want at the end of the day.

To me you want to win every competition that go into and the League Cup is no different. It is a competition that you can go in and win and have a day out at Hampden to enjoy it. This season it is an opportunity to put down a very early marker and claim a trophy before Christmas, something that would be hugely welcomed by everyone at Celtic Park.