Alexandro Bernabei is an enigma at Celtic, isn’t he?
The first-ever Argentine to sign for the Hoops, hopes were high amongst the Celtic fans that he would make an instant impact and challenge Greg Taylor for that left-back position.
As it happened, Bernabei has struggled to tie down that starting spot and his appearances in the Hoops have been sparse.
But lately, he has been called upon to help cover for the injured Taylor and, to be fair to him, he has done relatively well.
However, it was his performance against St Mirren that had Alan Morrison of Celtic By Numbers bamboozled.
Not because he was terrible but simply because Bernabei’s stats are so erratic, he barely believe them himself.
Morrison said [The Huddle Breakdown], “It’s remarkable. As a player in some respects, you know, he was involved in the most challenges in the whole game, 17.
“He lost seven of them, which was more than anyone else. He had the most recoveries, 18, he had the most turnovers, six, and he had the most losses of the ball in the defensive third, five.
“But he also won the ball back in the defensive third most, four. He lost possession overall nine times, which is the most by five.
“But he created two chances. He had two secondary assists with the highest expected assists associated with anyone in the team.
“He had the most progressive runs in the team and the highest pack dribbling score, and he had the highest pack receiving score of any player in the team.
“So that’s just mad, right?”
It is mad and I’ll tell you something else, Bernabei’s performances on the pitch are indicative of his life off it. Mad.
Done for drink driving, Bernabei’s early Celtic career didn’t get off to the best of starts. Sleeping in for a team meeting for Brendan Rodgers’ first fixture in charge this season also capped off Bernabei’s colourful career.
Whether there is a player in there is still up for debate but Bernabei will need to adapt some control over himself on and off the pitch if he wants to rescue his Celtic career.
