Celtic were invincible domestically in season 2016-17. Players like Tierney, Dembele, Roberts and Rogic lit up the league, but Scott Sinclair was unequivocally Player of the Year. His impact on the team was immediate, scoring 20 minutes after coming on at Tynecastle on his debut and turning up on all the big occasions.
His partnership with Tierney on the left forced opponents to become preoccupied with stopping Celtic down that wing, which allowed others freedom elsewhere.
One moment in particular stood out. Celtic were 65 games into their unbeaten domestic run when they faced Motherwell at Fir Park in November 2017. The same teams met three days earlier in the League Cup Final, which was settled when Scott won a penalty, converted by Moussa Dembele, which saw Cedric Kipre ordered off.
At Fir Park, the Motherwell fans jeered Scott every time he touched the ball, blaming him for making the most of the contact from Kipre. It must have been a torrid experience for the player. An own goal by Mikeal Lustig gave the home team a lead on 78 minutes but Celtic won a penalty with two minutes remaining.
When many players hide under that kind of scrutiny, Scott grabbed the ball, scored the penalty and extended our unbeaten run. It was a great moment in our treble treble years. He was a player who never hid.
The decision to take up the option to extend his contract by a year in May looked obvious. He was a known resource at a time when the team faced a number of changes. I have no idea why Neil Lennon left him out so much this season. Mikey Johnston and Mohamed Elyounoussi are at the top of their game, but have been out injured simultaneously. Still, Scott was only used for a meaningless Europa League fixture.
He leaves for Preston a Celtic great.
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One last comment
CELTIC40ME on 9TH JANUARY 2020 8:29 PM
AKBW
Brendan Rodgers didn’t want Shved and knew nothing about him when he signed.
Fair point Celtic40Me it was probably Peter Lawwell who signed Shved however
they must see he can be a useful acquisision to go ahead & sign him (Shved)
So therefore in my opinion Shved should be given a chance nighty night all
“Of all the warm weather training camps in all the towns, in all the world, they have to walk into ours “
Neil Lennon
Jg 8.21
Ha. I think i run oot o piggy banks James, DD has them stashed all over the planet! Hope all’s good down bout the ham and Richmond neck of woods
:-)
HH
BIG WAVY on 9TH JANUARY 2020 8:40 PM
Hey AKBW1888 – Hang around fella, I’m asking nobody to leave.
I think that bloody match against the Orcs has brought out the negative in us all. Can’t wait until the team’s back and proving it’s the best in Scotland again.
Okay Big Wavy I hope you are right cause their is no room for being
complacent this Season we certainly need to be on out toes & not
taking things for granted we have a chance in equalling Jock Stein’s
record this Season we will all remeber another nine in a row however
who wants to recall eight in a row that’s bye-de-bye & not another
record so lets get behind the Bhoys & roar them over the finish line
Gone-The-Hoops
The hands cant hit@ 11:11 am
Your comment is not very objective and infers that there was little progress between the RD and BR era- do you really believe that?
Any inference taken from the post is your responsibility as the inferer. I certainly did not imply what you allege but I stand by what I did write. Ronny was nowhere near as succcessful either domestically or in Europe as our other managers but he was, as I said 2 minutes away from sneaking an aggregate win against Inter(agg 3:4) in the last 32 of Europa, much nearer than BR managed in his 2 attempts at this stage against arguably weaker teams (Zenit & Valencia) where we lost 1:3 and 0:3 respectively. The “plan to get better”, which is more of a wish than an actual plan, assserted by Chairbhoy, objectively did not improve our lot in Europe as compared with teh periods of WGS and NFL management, characterised as the “risk-averse” years, objectively did achieve higher heights. The hypothesis that backing Brendan was a change from previous risk averse strategies and would bring improvement in Celtic’s lot, is disproven by Euro results, though I freely acknowledge that it brought marginal improvements domestically. Marginal, in the sense that we won our leagues more comfortably, but we still won the same amount i.e. one every season.
Them’s the straight facts!
Also, the CL comparisons are unfair. In the two years during BR’s tenure when we qualified for the CL we were grouped with Barca, Man City, Bayern and PSG; two groups of death. The WGS/NL groups were far easier tasks.
You introduce a subjective element yourself when you start to rate the teams by your own rating system. Gordon Strachan and Neil Lennon’s Celtic had to face the exact same ratio of Seed 1’s, Seedd 2’s and Seeds 3 or 4 that Brendan’s team faced.
Our first CL last 16 achievement saw us win against both Man U and Benfica (as well as Copenhagen). Our 2nd saw us beat Milan, Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk, all perennial CL Group stagers. Oyr 3rd, under NFL, saw us Beat Barca, draw with Benfica and beat Spartak Moscow home and away. The heaviest Group stage defeat we ever suffered in those 3 campaigns was 3:0 away to Benfica in the 1st, 2:0 away to Donetsk in the 2nd and 2:1 away to Barca and Benfica under Neil in the 3rd campaign. Our worst ever CL Group defeat before Brendan was our 1:6 loss to Barca in 2013/14. Apart from that we had lost 0:3 on 5 occasions (Porto, Donetsk, Benfica, Man U, Milan) but we were generally competitive (and defensive) at CL level.
Brendan’s first CL Group saw us lose 0:7 to Barca, after losing to Red Imps in qualifying (arguably our worst ever Euro result in one tie). we finished bottom of our group.
Brendan’s 2nd CL Group stage saw deterioration with a 12:1 aggregate loss to PSG and a 5:1 aggregate loss to Bayern. A strange away win in Belgiu allowed us to get straight entry to Europa last 32 where we lost.
Brendan’s 3rd CL campaign saw him fail to get by AEK in qualifying 3rd round. AEK went on to lose 6 out of 6 CL Group stage games to Bayern, Ajax and Benfica, as the best objective indication we have of how BR’s team would have fared (but they never shipped more than 3 goals in any single game).
So, no it was not over subjective: I used the actual facts and results and, unlike yourself, I did not attribute any of this to good or bad luck, which would have been subjective.
Brendan’s development work was great in making our players braver and more ambitious. It brought dividends domestically but, after a promising recovery (home and away draws with Man City) after the sticky qualifying of Red Imps, Astana and Hapoel, we declined in Europe to being a too open team of easybeats. By season 3, it wasn’t PSG or Barca or Bayern that found it so; it was AEK.
looking back at the comments – its unusual that Celtic have had soooo many long term injuries – this is not normal and cant be construed as bad luck.
I’m ok with Sinclair and Morgan leaving – Sinclair was great and is a fantastic pro, however I think defenders learned to play against him and he went stale. Morgan never looked like he had the arrogance and inner confidence to make it at Celtic (maybe too soon to judge as he always put in a shift).
I’m concerned about the lack of height in the team – frimpong and Taylor too small for fullback. The midfielder linked, whilst robust, is only 5’8.
I’d love wanyama and the big lad Tino to add power and presence middle to front. Loan out Bayo for 6 months and replace with an experienced striker.
Jg (JG)
Is the Hammersmith Palace still there near Hammersmith Tube Station?
Or has it gone/closed down gosh I’m showing my age here
AT
All good my big friend. Continuing my missionary work apace!
HH jg
On form Scott Sinclair was an exceptional player for us
Have never seen anything in Lewis Morgan
2 players I see he a lot of mention today
Mikey Johnston is 20 year old, and in my opinion has a huge future, he does need to bulk up a bit for FtSFL though
Eboue Kouassi, is 22, when he joined us Jan 17, he immediately picked up malaria, and missed over 6 months, by Jan 2018, he was competing with Brown, Bitton, McGregor and Ntcham for a place, whilst Celtic were going for a 2nd Treble Treble, when he eventually did get an opportunity ( yes he had a few games in between this point) he then suffered a cruciate injury, putting him out for a further year. He has only returned to full training in the past few months
Maybe a wee spell on loan may help ? Wouldn’t be writing him off just yet ?
I do believe there is still more we could move on
Craig Gordon ?
Kundia Benyu
Jack Hendry
Calvin Millar
Anthony Ralston
We then need to be making a decision on the futures of
Boli Bolingoli
Leigh Griffiths
Vakoum Bayo
Mariam Shved
Daniel Arzani
Johnny Hayes
Not including Elyanousi & Bauer
So a fair bit of potential turnover
This is directly on back of losing 14 players in the summer of 19
Not surprising we are frustrated, football dept being poorly run, we must have been aware of what we had coming
I know the old Hammersmith Odeon is still there which I last heard its now
called the 02 Arena yes?
Repeating myself I know
Players who left in summer (jan19)
De Vries, Toljan, Gamboa, Lustig, Boyata, Benkovic, Compper, Izaguirre, Tierney
Allan, Mulumba
Wear, Burke, Dembele
Have we built a better defence , having lost 9 players ?
Who came into support midfield
And what forwards came in to replace the 3 ?
And as previous, we are walking into similar this summer, or plan now
Kouassi had malaria news to me not a trivial disease either😵
Scott Sinclair
Thanks a lot
Good luck in future
https://twitter.com/i/status/1215039589221588995
HH
NORRIEM on 9TH JANUARY 2020 8:54 PM
On form Scott Sinclair was an exceptional player for us
Have never seen anything in Lewis Morgan
2 players I see he a lot of mention today
Mikey Johnston is 20 year old, and in my opinion has a huge future, he does need to bulk up a bit for FtSFL though
Eboue Kouassi, is 22, when he joined us Jan 17, he immediately picked up malaria, and missed over 6 months, by Jan 2018, he was competing with Brown, Bitton, McGregor and Ntcham for a place, whilst Celtic were going for a 2nd Treble Treble, when he eventually did get an opportunity ( yes he had a few games in between this point) he then suffered a cruciate injury, putting him out for a further year. He has only returned to full training in the past few months
Maybe a wee spell on loan may help ? Wouldn’t be writing him off just yet ?
I do believe there is still more we could move on
Craig Gordon ?
Kundia Benyu
Jack Hendry
Calvin Millar
Anthony Ralston
We then need to be making a decision on the futures of
Boli Bolingoli
Leigh Griffiths
Vakoum Bayo
Mariam Shved
Daniel Arzani
Johnny Hayes
Not including Elyanousi & Bauer
So a fair bit of potential turnover
This is directly on back of losing 14 players in the summer of 19
Not surprising we are frustrated, football dept being poorly run, we must have been aware of what we had coming
Well said Norriem yeah okay we should give Kouassi more time considering all the injurys
he has had in the past lets hope he can make it with us & as for your opinion about what
needs to be done yes I would agree with what you are saying although I would keep
Johnny Hayes cause he is Celtic through & through & he has not been given a chance
up front after all that’s where he was playing when he played for Aberdeen so he has
been played out of position however what you say about the rest of the squad yeah
that is a fair acessment
However if we move on Craig Gordon we need to bring in another
Goalkeeper because I can’t see us paying Southampton 25 Million
Pounds for their 3rd choice Goalkeeper too dear & OTT
Johnny Hayes
A broken wrist, broken ankle and dislocated shoulder
All whilst playing for us in last 3 year
And many criticise him, playing out of his natural position,
to get a game for Celtic
AKBW1888 on 9TH JANUARY 2020 8:52 PM
Sorry mate, I don’t know.
NorrieM is spot on ref EK. Contracted malaria almost immediately after signing for us. And did suffer serious ligament damage versus the Diets and tried to play on.
Norrie is also spot on imho ref the level of turnover that we’ve seen and will again come the summer.
HH jg
Craig Gordon, out of contract in 5 months
PB…yes, I believe that was the case…malaria!
I believe Bobo was also affected by malaria after a trip home…
Brave malaria, invading big Bobo…
Nae problem James Gang
Craig Gordon out of Contract @ the end of this Season
Celtic get the finger out if we are not going to keep
Fraser Foster then we should be looking @ either
offering Craig Gordon a contract exstention or
looked @ bringing in another Goalkeeper along
with another Striker & strengthning our Defence
that is a no brainer cause we would only be left
with Scott Bain as our recognised Goalkeeper if
Foster & Gordon go next Summer & we have no
one coming through the development squad
You can get malaria from ticks but I didn’t think you got it by joining the Tic
Wee Bobby Collins the Continent of Africa is a ticking time bomb
If anyone wants to go there & come back without health issues
then no doubt they will have to get all sorts of penecillin jabs
what a mare
WBC –
‘Brave malaria, invading big Bobo…’
That was a tea- splutterer :-)
Coneybhoy
You heading out? There yir coat 😊😊
:-)
HH
Can you get malaria from the Clyde, you weggies will know😁😂
Malaria is no joke its a killer if I was the modern day African orgin footballer
& was asked to go & play for my Country in the African Nations Cup I would
give it a wide berth too much of a health risk not worth the grief for what
extra money nah thanks but no thanks the reason why there is all these
health issues in Africa is down to the climate & the sanitation issues
see charity ad’s on the TV for Water Aid & also all the Politicians over
there are corrupt & don’t care about the welfare of the people who live
there sadly the nation of Africa is in a mess sad but true
Point being made – probably poorly
We walked into this season Champions league qualifiers poorly prepared
Gee knew who would be going
We also knew of the issues with Leigh Griffiths
We waited till end of Aug to sign several players – prabaly to save a couple of hundred £k on salaries through July/Aug,
We’re or have we been appropriately prepared for our tilt at 9 ???
Look at we now now face
Are we prepared ?????
Good reading today ghuys and a lot of people putting over good and reasoned arguments.
However, 1 point…… Football has changed especially for footballers.
You do NOT get a chance in the Celtic 1st team.
You DO get a chance every day in training to impress the guys who pick the team.
Lenny didn’t rate Sinclair… He thinks Shved isn’t ready…. He doesn’t rate Morgan n Hendry.
If these guys aren’t ripping up trees in training then they won’t get a chance just so we, the fans, can make our mind up.
Incidentally, i have always thought that all wingers at all levels should change clubs/leagues every 2 years.
Joe Miller/Sinclair are prime examples of this.
We need 2 x no 9s
We need an experienced winger who can play on both wings.
Thats just to win the league.
We need to show the current squad we’re serious by trying to sign FF…. who for me can be almost as important as Henrik.
I still think, though it won’t happen, that McGeady and McLean ( both gettable) would win us the league.
Good luck Scotty Sinclair…. An absolure credit to your family and your profession.
HH
Back onto players
It was 3 seasons ago, Leigh Griffiths was outstanding
He has been out for over 12 months ( ok in periphery)
I do not believe we will see the Griffiths of 3 years ago back
So big decision time
Is Bayo going to make it ?
Tom Rogic, ( I like when on form) has been relatively poor for over 12 months, will he replace Christie ??
We then have Mikey Johnston, Calum McGregor, Olivier Ntcham and an emerging Karomoke Dembele, who can all play the number 10
Big decision needed on Tom Rogic
Jozo Simonuvic ( I like when fit), consistently unfit, should we be looking to move on ???
Time for a long hard look and clear strategy on our squad
PRESTONPANS BHOYS on 9TH JANUARY 2020 9:43 PM
Can you get malaria from the Clyde, you weggies will know😁😂
Nah Malaria would not survive in Coldland & the Clyde
is brass monkies temperature freezing Brrrrr
However one could catch Malaria from an infected
carrier but it would be contained over here where
as the Nation of Africa its in epidemic motion
AKBW, Africa is not a nation, there are 56 Countries in the Continent of Africa, Malaria is a major problem in 5 or 6. There are certain areas which are very dangerous to go to but generally if you stay in good Hotels you are not in danger of contracting Malaria.
Oh God…………….
9 MORE SLEEPS
Yeah CorkCelt Africa is a Continent with 56 Countries point taken
& staying in good clean Hotels over there then one should be safe
however one can catch malaria if ones out & about & it does have
a warmer climate than over here & one has to be careful & on ones
guard over there when they are travelling around my Sister &
Brother in Law where over in South Africa & they went into this
Petrol Station over there to fuel uo their hired Car & when they paid
with the Visa Card & after they got back home to the UK they where
informed that there Visa Card was cloned over there I’m not saying
that this does not happen else where but come on going into a normal
Petrol Station & being scammed is no joke & total inconvience & it also
has a lot of dodgy Areas over there where Angels fear to tread dodgy
Areas & Crime is Rife that is why one has to be on the Guard when they
are over there its not 100% Safe
Need to stop cracking jokes on here, nightly all😵
If we sign Soro does that mean we can sing Sunshine on Leith? 😉