BITTON COMES OUT OF SHADOWS
Midfielder has enjoyed Celtic renaissance and, if Ange is looking for any advice on chasing trophies and Trebles, Nir might just know a thing or two...
ASK a selection of Celtic fans to name the club’s strongest starting XI and it’s doubtful Nir Bitton would get too many mentions. Still, there’s a distinct sense that the Israeli is enjoying a renaissance under Ange Postecoglou, one that is likely to see him play a pivotal role as the team seeks to pull off an unlikely domestic Treble.
For more years than he cares to remember, the Israeli has been the very epitome of a squad player at Parkhead yet, if selected, he will make his 35th club appearance of the season in tomorrow’s Scottish Cup quarter-final at Tannadice.
Not since Brendan Rodgers was new in town has Bitton last felt like a bona-fide first-team regular but while he gradually faded from the picture under the Northern Irishman, Postecoglou’s arrival has seen the 30-year-old’s influence grow.
He said: ‘Every day I try to do my best on the training pitch to show him that I deserve to play. I have played quite a lot of games this season and I really appreciate it.
‘I don’t take it for granted, playing for this massive club is a big achievement for me. I was a bit unlucky with injuries the last few years but I know my ability and I always trust in myself. It is up to the manager to give me the faith.’
The comprehensive rebuild required when Postecoglou arrived from Yokohama Marinos last summer was always likely to accommodate at least a stop-gap role for Bitton at the start of the season but it all began in ignominy.
A red card in the Champions League qualifying-round exit to Midtjylland was costly in more ways than one and he was caught static as a late John Souttar header confined Celtic to defeat on the opening night of the Premiership season at Tynecastle.
On both occasions Bitton was playing at centre-back, a role to which he had seemingly been permanently converted for both club and country.
The departure of Scott Brown had created a vacancy at the base of the Celtic midfield but it was to new club captain Callum McGregor that Postecoglou turned first, with Ismaila Soro as back-up then James McCarthy and later Yosuke Ideguchi signed as competition.
Yet it’s Bitton who has emerged as perhaps the most effective alternative of all.
Last weekend’s Premiership fixture at Livingston was a case in point. The West Lothian venue has caused Celtic no end of grief in recent seasons but Postecoglou went with Bitton tucked in behind McGregor and his calmness in possession was key to a comfortable 3-1 victory.
‘Niro has been very good for us,’ said Postecoglou. ‘He was one of the few experienced ones we had left last year and I think the way we play suits him being in midfield. He has a physical presence but he is also a smart performer who reads the game well. It has been great for me to call on him particularly when you look at that No 6 role as it’s pivotal.
‘It is not an easy role to just throw somebody into. Callum, Niro and James McCarthy have been there at different times and having an experienced player in that role is pretty important.
‘Niro has been great for us. He was great against Livingston and he has been a key contributor.’
Signed from Ashdod for a fee in the region of £1million during Neil Lennon’s first spell in charge, Bitton initially looked primed for the club’s buy low, sell high transfer model but has instead hung around to the point he will have completed a decade at Parkhead at the expiry of his current contract in 2023.
The experience he has garnered under Lennon, Rodgers and Ronny Deila has made him a better player and also the team’s de facto vicecaptain. He’s witnessed a lot in Glasgow and, even as Postecoglou embarked on his daunting mission last summer he was able to instruct every new team-mate that an instant impact was required at a club where there is no such thing as a transitional season.
With the League Cup already in the bag and the side top of the Premiership, Postecoglou’s men have learned fast but Bitton knows there will be a backlash should they exit the Scottish Cup today.
He added: ‘I will be honest with you, having been here nine years, this club is always wanting to win. There is no time to settle in or take your time.
‘As soon as you sign for this club there is a big expectation on you. Everyone expects you to win games and everyone expects you to compete for titles, trophies.
‘We all knew it would be a tough start when the gaffer signed because a lot of new players had to come in but we have improved a lot in this time. We are in a good place and hopefully it will continue. It was never going to be easy and smooth but I think we have improved a lot from the start of the season.
‘We play some good football, we control matches and try to carry out the instructions the gaffer and coaching staff give us the best possible way we can.’
If there is one enduring criticism of Bitton it is that he is still prone to picking up too many bookings, and that occasionally those needless cautions tot up into a red card.
Midtjylland was one of two examples this season, the other coming the last time Celtic faced United in a tense league fixture in late January.
Bitton’s compatriot Liel Abada would bail him out with a late winner at Celtic Park but despite his sending-off coming on the back of two obviously cynical challenges on Tony Watt and Declan Glass, he maintains his innocence.
‘I wouldn’t say grateful for that,’ he
It doesn’t matter where the gaffer decides to play me, I will always try to do my best for him, for the coaching staff and for the Celtic support
said of Abada’s goal. ‘First of all, I don’t think it was a red card. You know we have seen some crazy decisions in this league.
‘Also, it is a game of football and we have seen a lot of times when teams have won games with 10 players, even nine players.
‘If I had stayed on the pitch I don’t know if we would have won the game, so maybe my red card was better for the team.’
And yet despite those occasional flashpoints, it’s Bitton’s ability to remain serene in the face of a tousy match that remains his biggest asset — and why he has thrived since moving back into his preferred position.
He continued: ‘I signed as a midfielder but over the years some managers have asked me to play centre-back which I totally accept. I get it.
‘You have good games and you have bad games, you need to accept it. It does not matter where the gaffer picks me to play, I will always try to do the best for him, for the coaching staff and for the Celtic fans. Sometimes it goes better, sometimes worse but, at the end of the day, it is football — and bigger players than me have had bad games, so I am okay with that.’
A veteran of Treble wins under Lennon and Rodgers, Bitton knows what it takes to sweep the boards of Scotland’s domestic honours.
A win tomorrow night would bring Postecoglou another step closer to his own magic three but while Bitton acknowledges the question is relevant, he insists it is not a live topic of conversation in the dressing room.
‘When you play for Celtic, you want to win every trophy possible but we’re not thinking about that at the moment,’ said Bitton.
‘You don’t really think about winning the Treble on a daily basis. You just come to training every single day preparing for the next match and taking it step by step.
‘We don’t think too far ahead, there are still two months to play in this season.’