Forrest, Christie and Turnbull

James Forrest’s injury in September happened three days before Jeremie Frimpong’s best performance of the season, in the home win against Hibs.  I remember using the MVP acronym for Jeremie at the time.  Team form until that point was patchy: wins with alarming defensive performances and an unmitigated disaster against Ferencvaros.  The team shape was clearly wrong and pushing Jeremie forward in James absence seemed logical.

It was the first of many changes I wanted to see, each followed by a realisation that we were groping around in the darkness, until Ismaila Soro and David Turnbull became the central points of a midfield diamond.  Having (hopefully) fixed the fundamental tactical problem, James return to full training offers Neil Lennon the flexibility he is denied on the right and enhances his option in the middle.

Ryan Christie is well short of his best form in a Celtic shirt but all of those best performances came when he played through the middle.  He can cover for James and offer options on the right while giving the manager a different option when he wants to swap out David Turnbull in the 10 position.