Shaun Maloney looks for a long run in Europe and in team

Shaun Maloney looks for a long run in Europe and in team









Published Date: 07 August 2011



By Andrew Smith
NEVER mind his club, Celtic forward Shaun Maloney has his own personal four-in-a-row to avoid at all costs this season. And in contrast to the quest by Neil Lennon's side to halt Rangers' title run, it is outwith the 28-year-old's control.
In the second half of the past three seasons, Maloney has found himself unable to make any notable contribution because of injury. He's now in the final year of his current deal, and were a similar scenario to unfold it could mean the end of a CelticADVERTISEMENT

career that has come in two parts and covered more than a decade.

Maloney, who will be back in his home city of Aberdeen today as Celtic play at Pittdorie, is only thinking of "short-term goals" of "getting into the starting XI". His manager, however, is pretty plain about the requirement for earning a new contract. "Shaun has to prove he can play consistently for a concerted period of time," Lennon says. A "big fan" of a player who was his team-mate for nearly six years, he knows Maloney deserves an even break. "He's had such a tough time of it and nothing would please me more than to see him get out there and play his football again."

Like he was playing it last year, indeed. Central to Celtic's eight-game winning league run, a swollen eye socket forced Maloney off in the early minutes of the first derby that brought an end to that victorious sequence. A month later he took a kick to the ankle against Inverness, and that was his last sighting until April.

"For the first third of the season last year he was arguably our best player and then he got a real bad knock against Inverness," said Lennon. "It was a trauma injury, a challenge and whichever way he came out of it put him back three or four months. It was a huge blow for him. If he hadn't had that he would probably have had a full season. He was a looking really good, enjoying his football and training and it was just bad luck. The slate is wiped clean and if we can go on (an injury-free] run now for a while we should see both sides benefiting."

Lennon accepts that Maloney, an introspective individual, can beat himself up a little too much in being "a conscientious boy" and "a perfectionist", to his detriment at times. If his body stops beating up on him he can have his best times ahead at the club, the Celtic manager says. "He always worked very hard on the physical side of his rehab and sometimes he over-trains. He's at an age, 28, he doesn't need to do that. We just want him to do his football training and go home and rest. He's coming to the mature age in his career and we could maybe get five top years out of him. He still has plenty to offer. He should be fresh enough because he has missed a lot of football through no fault of his own."

Lennon believes Maloney's best position could be playing off a striker and not the wide areas where he has tended to be deployed.


Apologies if this has already been posted.

 

I like wee Shaun but i cant see him getting a long run in the team and if he does, he will just end up injured and out for the season again

 

We were superb last season when we played

Forster
Cha Loovens Majstorovic Izaguirre
Brown Ledley
Stokes Maloney Forrest
Murphy
(Hooper once he returned)
​

They played the best football ive probably seen from Celtic tbh then after Rangers beat us/Maloney got injured we stopped playing that way

We played 4-2-3-1 in every League game until the St Johnstone game(first one after Rangers) where we changed to 4-4-2. the it made a 1 off comeback for the 9-0 game and then was never seen again.

 

If he's injured again, hes out of the club.

 

I think his days on the wing are over. His age, injuries and our system don't really accomodate him anymore. I think if he is injury free he has something to offer playing just off the striker. Time will tell.

It's definitely make or break time this year.

 

the wee cxxman, will play till he gets the contract

 

good see he he still has a top attitude, it would be easy to get disheartened if you had as many setbacks as him. and as said in the article by lenny him self and by and in an earlier post, his best place is off the striker.

 

Agreed. I really like that system. When we are 20 points ahead at xmas we can try a few different approaches with our squad.

 

He never gets a wee injury, every time you see him going off injured he misses atleast 2 months. He never just tweaks his ankle of gets a dead leg/sprain etc its always a bad one.

 

One of the unluckiest players we have had

 

just focus in getting a long run injury free then worry about europe and the league

good luck to you

 

How about you attempt for a long run in the team first, Eh Maloney?