CHRIS SUTTON, the former Celtic striker, believes Nadir Ciftci could become a real asset for Ronny Deila’s side this season but only if he learns to cool his temper. The £1.5m summer signing from Dundee United will miss the first six league games of the season after being found guilty of biting Dundee’s Jim McAlister on the leg in a derby match towards the end of last season, and was also at the heart of the rammy that marred the William Hill Scottish Cup tie between United and Celtic at Tannadice.
Ciftci, though, is still available for European games and is expected to get the nod over Leigh Griffiths to start against Qarabag this evening in the home leg of the teams’ Champions League third qualifying round tie. Sutton, who spent six years at Celtic, can see similarities between himself and Ciftci but warned that the Turk would need to show some restraint or face lengthy spells stuck in the stand.
“There are question marks over his temperament,” said Sutton, BT Sport's Scottish football analyst. “He seems to be quite a likeable boy but you can imagine him going into games and opponents trying to wind him up.
“But if I was him I’d be thinking it’s a wonderful opportunity at Celtic. You can’t take that edge away from his game. Other players need to protect him too. Certainly once the ball has gone he has to think “don’t hit, bite, punch or kick anyone”.
“There are limits aren’t there? People see red mist at times. He seems to have done it too much. Players around him need to be quite cute and smart when they see situations occurring.
“Scott Brown is someone who plays on the edge as well but as a captain he maybe needs to step in. If you know there are going to be flashpoints you need other players around thinking as soon as anything happens jump in and keep them away. But there were so many players who played near the edge in my team that wasn’t worth thinking about.
“Ciftci is what he is but I do just think he has to think about the way he acts. If Celtic are in Europe and they’re down to ten men after 15 minutes on Wednesday due to him reacting then that’s a problem. It’s not an action when the ball’s on its way into him, it’s after the ball has gone where he causes himself problems which is something I believe he should be able to affect.”
Qarabag may not be a giant of the European scene but Sutton believes the Azerbaijani champions will cause Celtic more than a few problems and that a goalless draw leg wouldn’t be the worst result in the world to take to Baku for the return leg next week.
He added: “It’s going to be a tough tie against Qarabag. I don’t think Celtic will underestimate them in any way, shape or form. When you look at the results they’ve had, they beat Salzburg in a one-off game, beat Dnipro and knocked out FC Twente, so it’s going to be hard.
“Tonight is critical but I think it will go to the second leg. I don’t think Celtic will roll them over easily. It might be negative to say so but keeping a clean sheet is key. If you go away from home after a 1-1 it’s a totally different game. I think Celtic will create chances at home, they just need to be patient and concentrate. That was the way we would always approach games.”
-Watch Hearts vs St Johnstone live on BT Sport 1 from 12pm on Sunday 2 August. Visit btsport.com
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