I could not make sense of why we signed Mohamed Elyounoussi on loan from Southampton in the last days of the 2019 summer transfer window. He played in Mikey Johnston’s position, a prospect I had great hopes for. Just days later, Mikey was a star at Ibrox, winning possession (albeit without much difficulty) and setting up Odsonne Edouard for the opening goal.
Mohamed proved to be an important part of yet another treble in our second nine-in-a-row season, whereas the Celtic coaches saw gaps in Mikey’s play I had missed.
It has been five years since Mikey made his debut, so long, perhaps, that we have lost sight of the fact he is only 23 and missed much of the intervening period through injury. Jota we more readily think of as young, although the Portuguese is three weeks older.
I’m not prepared to write Mikey off. He has an ability to switch left-to-right and back better than anyone else in the squad at the moment (including Jota). His battles with form and end product have been common among wingers for decades and are not fatal to a successful career.
With three years left on his contract, he needs regular football and encouragement. Celtic have to learn how to convert this level of natural talent into a successful career, even if it means sending them out for a period.
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Bazinga
Goal!
Et Voila
Well done Luca
HH
Ange said “bigger and better”.
He did not say “newer and blingier.”
One trick pony.
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I’m a long time lurker been here since Black Sunday first podium. 🍀
AN TEARMANN on 28TH JULY 2022 12:36 PM
Well done Luca
HH
Paul67,
Callum’s spell @ Notts County didnae do him any harm.
He wiz a goal machine tbh.
I’m bored with the discussion on this bhoy, just let him leave, had more than enough chances to prove. If lucky he’ll end up in the English championship.
Mikey Johnson I would like to be successful,alas his time has come.a)to go on loan and get regular game time and come back a better footballer.
In Neil Lennons term he got injured and mistakenly played on adding to it.when off he was given a ryanchristie type bulk up programme.mikey never adhered to it,may have had a fear of loosing touch with added weight and strength..
I would only see mikey as an able sub and I think he has to take the reins of his career and kick on.its hard as like calmacwe are a big part of his life.
I wish him well
HH
Come on Celtic.
Lets dae this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAwXAXMPXt4
HWFG!!!!!!!!!
CELTIC
Great Luca 💚
HH
A worthy repost from over
https://youtu.be/5vOD3L7v-q8
Redistribute the wealth
HH
We have not offered enough support / coaching to MJ.
He is a huge talent but he has been allowed to develop / mature on his own.
The situation that developed between him and NL showed neither of them in a good light — MJ was 20’ish / NL was 48.
MJ — if we cannot bring him through to being a first team starter then who can we bring through?
The talent is there so it must be the coaching / development.
If MJ was a wee erse back in the day — then so what.
It goes with the territory of teenagers growing up.
PPB @ 12.44
They said that about JJ as well.
If you are bored then I would move — the east coast does that to people.
MadMitch
Ange is the Fergus McCann coaching wise,I dinnae even ken if he is hands on but he has his Lieutenants working the Bhoys hard frae whit I Abdul Quadir.
I don’t think Celtic will be selling Mikey Johnston anytime soon, if he moves it’ll be on loan hopefully to another Premier side. There have been many Celtic youngsters that didn’t make the first team , some of them went on to have relatively decent careers elsewhere.
The late developers list is also long and Mikey has the best example right across the pitch from him on the right James Forrest started with a bang like he did , then had injury woes before he settled as the favourite Celtic ‘escape goat ‘The Celtic coaching circle past and present rate Johnston very highly.
There is nothing to gain for Celtic in taking a nominal fee and offloading a genuine prospect to save low wages. A loan with no option to buy or a single goal for Celtic could spark the career once foreseen by all.
MADMITCH
I’m not from the East Coast 😠
From last thread, just a message to two good ghuys Big Jimmy & An Tearmann.
The Troll Mad Mitch is obviously getting to you both.
The whole purpose of Trolling is to get at good people and annoy & frustrate them,
When annoyed you lose your cool & possibly use intemperate language, result it’s you get barred and the Troll laughs away and in it’s pathetic little mind wins.
I don’t want either of you Barred so please ignore the cretin.
Scroll past him there are plenty of others to converse & have a civilized debate with.
The Mod comes across to me as a decent ghuy trying to help to sustain the Blog.
His problem is there is no sanction against stupidity,
Personally I feel Paul & The Moderator should acknowledge that Trolling is unacceptable and have it as part of the Blog Rules that it won’t be tolerated,
Wealth redistribution — interesting.
I wonder who you should vote for to bring this about?
What votes have brought about what level of wealth redistribution?
Though it is a bit of a schoolboy howler to talk about wealth instead of income redistribution — income is primary / wealth is secondary.
Finally I wonder how his members finance their new cars?
PPB @ 12.57
That is even worse — you moved there of your own free will?
CC @ 12.58
Not trolling — just calling out the “Craddocks”.
We can’t really know our footballers watching as we do from a distance but for me there are question marks over Mikeys ‘mentality’. Mental fortitude and confidence can be worked on every bit as much as crossing and shooting – in fact the former leads to improvement in the latter and possibly vice versa.
Can we assume from the article that Mikey is going out on loan? Maybe he has gone? I’m not as connected to social media these days so I get my news a day later than normal folk!
Corkcelt.
My point is that behaviour is known of by Mods/Paul67.
Nothing done.
It’s a house troll.
HH
Johnston has had more chances than any other young player. We need to allow him to leave
Why do small political entities howl at the moon.
Why do they try to find connections where none exist?
Why do they hate Labour more than the Tories?
Why do they try and hide their voting record?
Why oh why oh why oh why?
Mad mitch – I generally don’t venture into political waters in here anymore (longer serving cqners will recall I used to do little else!) You ask about who to vote fir to redistribute wealth. The answer is no existing UK political party.
The most effective way to ensure redistributive practice is at the point of production/ the workplace through organisation and demanding better pay and conditions. The attack over decades on the ability to do that effectively, coupled with the creation of transient and insecure workforces who are less likely to organise are a major reason why the rich gave been able to keep and accumulate such more of the capital/ surplus value that workers create these days than they did say in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Of course taxation plays a part too, but anyone looking for saviours being voted in to any of our parliaments or legislative assemblies in these islands is looking in the wrong place.
A better share of wealth will only be given when it is demanded and fought for by a well organised workforce.
The only democracy worth a damn is the one created and maintained by workers themselves. The only genuinely democratic institutions left are trade unions.
Power concedes nothing without demand.
1991 – Gary Gillespie (Liverpool) –£ 925,000.
Nicknamed ‘the rigger ‘ by Celtic fans because he was four weeks on, four weeks off.
There is one thing for sure if some the young Bhoyshave to give up there football career through not good enough or juast retire no way will there be jobs for them in the sports department of the Scottish Media
BB @ 1.12
MJ has been used by managers in the past starting with BR.
Used as a Hail Mary pass when the team is struggling due to injuries.
At one point half of his starts were in games against TFOD2.1.
We have not offered him the support that he needs.
We have used him — no wonder his head is currently full of broken bottles.
He needs coaching / rigid game plan to get his confidence back.
He tries too hard and then it all falls apart.
RobertTressell
You are as normal as they come.
I loved yer jibber jabber with philvis bach in the Davie Hay.
Again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29KLr5qdnPU
Not long now until we play competitively.
I am really excited. Kyogo husnae hit the heights yet pre-Season.
The numbers 8 & 7 are powerful.
GG is gonnae rock this Season IMO, Furuhashi too.
If this article is the portent of Mikey going out on loan with no option to buy then it’s a situation that puzzles me.
If we accept that Ange plus his coaches have the ability to improve a player and provide a system to play in – why would you send MJ on loan (at his age) in the hope that he will improve under an inferior coach in an inferior system?
I reckon that if he goes out on loan, he won’t be coming back.
Why why why Delilah?
Quite telling that Celtic utilised 21 players against Norwich with Mikey nowhere to be seen………..injured?………there seems to be little news about Ideguchi or Jenz on that front either.
Ah Mikey…huge fan of his ‘potential’ but unfortunately as a 23 year old, it never really arrived.
Not scored a competitive goal since 12th January 2019,,,
Injury prone – missed 77 matches through injury since then. A mere 588 days unavailable.
Decision-making after the dancing feet routine never seemed to develop.
Time to move on. Maybe the expectation of playing for Celtic was too much.
It wouldn’t be the first. File under Jamie Smith.
Time to go.
HH
Ok …..
“I’m not prepared to write Mikey off”
Fair enough Pablo.
Despite my frustrations with the young man I’ll happily go along with that.
“He has an ability to switch left-to-right and back better than anyone else in the squad at the moment (including Jota)”
Really? I look forward to the YouTube clip compilation.
Biggest historical grump I have with some wingers / ball players.
Heid doon approach (required to police those dancing feet and multiple ball touches)
.. not coached out of them early enough.
As a result they often miss that FRACTION OF A SECOND moment to see the channel emerging and release the pass.
Modern defensive organisational methods closes these gaps almost instantaneously.
Robert T
The push is on to make us a better football club,Mikey it’s being suggested via s.m to go loan.to get him playing,game time etc,no doubt he will be out the door ,an injury will occur and we will all be lamenting his loss of course.
Being a tic fan is hard.
HH