Schmeichel in spotlight after night of gloom for Celtic

At half-time in Celtic’s eventual 4-1 Europa League play-off defeat by Stuttgart, the focus was on home goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

“It looks to me as if he is not expecting shots, which is strange for a goalkeeper,” former Scotland forward James McFadden said. “He’s expecting defenders to stop every shot.

“Teams will be saying there appears to be a weakness to his left-hand side.”

The Denmark shot-stopper had been beaten down to his left by a tame Bilal El Khannouss shot for Stuttgart’s opening goal, before the on-loan Leicester City man added a second with a free header from seven yards out.

And at full-time, attention was on Schmeichel again.

Jamie Leweling’s powerful strike from range – not in the bottom corner – went straight through the 39-year-old goalkeeper for the visitors’ third.

With fans protesting against the club’s board at the start of the game and later ironically cheering Schmeichel making a save, the atmosphere at Parkhead was far from harmonious.

“It’s bitterly disappointing,” former Celtic captain and manager Neil Lennon said of the jeers directed at Schmeichel.

“He had a bad night but it still doesn’t warrant that kind of treatment.”

Thursday night was the latest in a string of perceived errors made by Schmeichel, following Joe Hugill’s looping header for Kilmarnock last weekend and Jonathan Rowe’s effort for Bologna last month.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Celtic closed ranks around their embattled goalkeeper post-match.

“It’s a tough evening for us,” interim manager Martin O’Neill said. “On paper, 4-1 looks pretty poor.

“We were masters of our own downfall in many respects, conceded some poor goals.

“Kasper [Schmeichel] has made some great saves while I’ve been here. This is a collective, there’s no doubt about that.

“We played Feyenoord in a game we probably had to win and he made an unbelievable save, otherwise we wouldn’t be here playing tonight.

“I will think about all sorts of things [before the next game], but Kasper has done really well since I’ve arrived at the football club, in both spells.”

Captain Callum McGregor added: “Everyone makes mistakes.

“Kasper has been amazing since he’s come to the club. He’ll dust that down. We win as a team and lose as a team.

There is evidence that – particularly in Europe – Schmeichel has underperformed this season.

He has conceded 19 goals in nine Europa League matches this term, with a save percentage of just 62.

Celtic’s expected goals on target conceded – the likelihood of an on-target shot resulting in a goal – is 13.96 across those games. In essence, Schmeichel has conceded four goals more than the data would expect him to.

McFadden thinks Celtic’s season could go one way or another based on whether O’Neill decides to stick with Schmeichel or promote understudy Viljami Sinisalo.

“Does the season hinge on it? It might do because if Martin O’Neill opts to stick with Kasper Schmeichel, that’s a big decision. If he opts to change him, that’s a big decision.

“If you feel that’s the decision to be made because you feel more secure at the back, then you make it.”

One man who knows what it feels like to line up between the sticks at Parkhead is BBC Scotland pundit Pat Bonner, who thinks a change should be made.

“My opinion is that Sinisalo should have got a run in the team earlier this season,” he said.

Despite Schmeichel’s mistakes, Lennon also questioned the way Celtic performed as a collective on a night when Stuttgart proved far too strong.

“Celtic lacked a lot of power and intensity, certainly in a defensive capacity,” he said. “It was far too easy, far too stand-offish.

“That is not a Martin O’Neill team or a Martin O’Neill performance.