You know the drill – 900 minutes and off we go! Equally, I love to give ‘first impressions’ and set some markers that will undoubtedly embarrass me when a ‘proper’ sample size is achieved. This is a long way round to ask: ‘What do we think of Kasper Schmeichel so far?’.

The 37-year-old Dane with the Mancunian accent hardly needs to audition, but a new goalkeeper does not happen that often given there is only one number one. Celtic have had a comfortable home win against Kilmarnock, followed by a trip to the most difficult ground in Scotland for Celtic in recent times in the shape of Easter Road.

Essentially, how is the goalie Dane so far?

Flexible friend

What struck me as remarkable in Edinburgh was the confidence that the outfield players already have in Schmeichel to take and give a pass even under pressure.

In the second half, Scales fired a pass back right into the centre of the goal which Schmeichel took to the last second whilst he angled body and mind to the next recipient, which was expertly found with a chipped pass to the right-wing position. This example was typical of a comfort Schmeichel has that we are not used to regarding the ball-playing custodian role.

Fraser Forster was a terrific shot-stopper, but as a six-foot-seven-inch man with a rigid frame, not agile with the ball at his feet. Craig Gordon was particularly surly about having to focus on the football aspect of his role but tried his best. And Joe Hart, another tall man with a stiff gait, was the consummate professional in adapting to Brendan Rodgers’ requirements but never looked comfortable in the backstop libero role.

Schmeichel is not a tall goalkeeper at around six feet and two inches. Also, despite his age, he seems agile and flexible in his movements. This helps regarding the passing game as he can adjust position quickly and get into the correct body shape to angle passes appropriately. Experts in body types and shapes can comment more authoritatively but he seems to have the intrinsic physique for this ball-playing role.

Pass marks

Against Hibernian, Schmeichel completed 56 passes. This is the equal most I have ever recorded for a Celtic goalkeeper in domestic football going back to the 2014-15 season, so ten years. Scott Bain also completed 56 passes against Midtjylland in a Champions League qualifier for Ange Postecoglou in the 2021-22 season.

Celtic dominated the ball (73 per cent possession) to a greater extent than in any match at Hibernian over the same ten-year period. We must also consider the game state. Celtic scored two early goals (in the third and 19th minutes). This allowed the away side to keep ball on a hot day for much of the remainder of the match. The home side managed not a single shot on target.

Nevertheless, Schmeichel is comfortable with the ball at his feet to an extent not seen in recent times. As such he is perhaps the first goalkeeper that fits the mould for how Rodgers and Postecoglou want to play. Remember, Celtic goalkeepers have far more passes to navigate (23.3 per 90 minutes) than saves to make (1.83 per 90 minutes). So, this matters to the way the side plays.

Schmeichel also started to be more confident in his longer passing, partly explained by Hibernian pressing higher than a Kilmarnock side between taxing European assignments. This is reflected in him completing five pack-passes – forward passes that take opponents out of the game. His pass-packing score of 27 was nowhere near Liam Scales’s 142 and his 16 players taken out of the game was fifth highest on the day. Hart averaged 1.8-pack passes per game last season. He only surpassed Schmeichel’s 27 pack-pass score three times domestically.

Over a full season, this will have a positive impact for Celtic when you consider the pace across the front line. Getting the ball to them earlier by beating a high press should yield promising attacking situations.

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The basics

It is too early to assess the Dane on the basic goalkeeping components relative to keeping the ball out of the net. As mentioned, Hibernian had no shots on target on Sunday.

Kilmarnock achieved two with a total post-shot xG of 0.05 according to StatsBomb. StatsBomb calculates the optimal position for each goalkeeper when facing a shot. They then measure the distance away from that position the custodian is. This is called a ‘Positioning Error’. At the moment with a tiny sample, Schmeichel is in the middle of the SPFL pack with 1.5 (I think it is metres, but their glossary does not specify) average positioning error.

This is one for the 900-minute threshold. I called this one out due to the ten-year high Schmeichel achieved in the simple passing metric. Given the fact Celtic were at their toughest opponents’ away ground, and I thought it worth a mention.

The eye test tells me he looks super comfortable with the ball at his feet and exudes confidence and competence in his all-round game. We will revisit that as soon as that game-time threshold is passed.