Lenny’s unsung hero will not let himself be Bitton

THIS week has been a productive one for trimming the fringe men at the Old Firm.

The departures of Greg Docherty and Ross McCrorie at Rangers and potentially Tom Rogic at Celtic won’t just ease bloated squads and free up wages, they will bring in decent transfer fees.

It’s good housekeeping and in all cases best for both parties as Hull, Aberdeen and it looks like an unnamed side in Qatar have all landed talented players.

For all that some bench warmers can be seen as non-essential, there are others who are indispensable.

A case in point is Nir Bitton at Celtic.

The Israeli might appear to have kicked around the fringes for the majority of his stint at Parkhead and at times he’s very much the forgotten man.

One look at his stats proves his value to the Hoops. Something Neil Lennon, at least, has never forgotten.

A player who cost £700,000 has won seven titles in seven years. Here’s a man who has racked up over 200 appearances since Lennon shelled out that fee to bring a skinny lad to Scotland from the obscurity of Ashdod.

That’s a good few more than Rogic, who arrived in the east end of Glasgow six months before Bitton and has received far greater plaudits in that time.

The unassuming Israeli looks set to outlast the Aussie at Parkhead and that’s because, for Lennon, he is invaluable.

Once a central midfielder, Bitton has now developed to become an accomplished defender while still possessing the versatility to move into a holding midfield role. His performance when flung in for his first start of the season against KR Reykjavik on Tuesday was every bit as assured as Lennon would have expected from his Mr Dependable.

Bitton has the ability to drive play forward by bringing the ball out of defence but his reading of the game is arguably better than any of the other centre-halves at Lennon’s disposal.

A year ago Bitton was a mainstay in Lennon’s backline and stood firm alongside Christopher Jullien in the first Old Firm of the season at Ibrox as Celtic won 2-0.

One of the few games he missed was the 4-3 catastrophe at home to Cluj and how Lennon

One look at his stats proves the value of the Israel star to Neil Lennon

might wish he’d used the Euro know-how of Bitton in that one.

On the flip side the 6ft 5in stopper may appear too easily nudged off balance against a battering ram. It’s a worrying trend in the Hoops backline.

With Celtic pushing to bring in a no-nonsense defender in this window in Shane Duffy, the Israel international may well be shouldered back to the bench again.

But Bitton is no bit-part man. Indeed if Lennon could find that aerially dominant defender he craves then Bitton, with his reading of the game, might even be the best suited partner. As Lennon streamlines, Bitton can’t be cut loose.