Celtic’s Mr Evergreen, James Forrest, has been chosen in the cinch SPFL Team of the Week following his weekend Hampden heroics.
The 32-year-old winger came off of the bench in second half of our scintillating tie with Aberdeen to put us 2-1 to the good just when we needed it most.
Pulling his hair out
With Daizen Maeda injured, Brendan Rodgers decided to go with South Korean, Yang Hyun-jun and must have been pulling his hair out, like the rest of us.
The tall wide-man just couldn’t get to grips with the pace of the game yet again and struggled painfully as he completely failed to do the basics. Despite his few flashes that he’s shown in games, he’s never given the Celtic supporters reason to put their faith in his talent as the main man out on that left wing.
Jamesy didn’t half make a point
Nicolas Kühn was on the opposite flank and whilst he was better than his young comrade, he wasn’t setting the stadium alight either, although he did score Celtic’s equaliser.
Rodgers opted to shake it up in that forward area later on in the Scottish Cup Semi-final on Saturday afternoon, and brought the veteran Forrest into play to show the younger ones how it’s done.
Well, he didn’t half make the point to those who wish to wear his crown on a regular basis, as his ball control and decision-making in the final third caused the Dons all sorts of problems when he arrived on the scene.
The Dutchman was rooted to the spot
After an initial drive at the ropey Aberdeen defensive unit and asking questions, he weaved inside and brought the ball with him as he opened up his body and shot into the bottom corner of Kelle Roos’ goal.
The Dutchman was rooted to the spot as the man who is not far off of 500 games for the Hoops turned to celebrate yet another crucial goal at Hampden Park for the team he’s played for his whole career.
With more high-profile games to come this season, we may need all of that nous and experience to help guide us to another League title, with the prospect of adding a Scottish Cup to it a few days after on 25 May against our old rivals.
Paul Gillespie