Opportunity Knocks for Odsonne Édouard - a key man for Celtic

For many Celtic fans, the jury is still out on Odsonne Édouard but the doubters will learn to love him.

And that's because he is likely to be crucial to Celtic's hopes of winning a double treble in the remaining weeks of the season.

Odsonne hasn't had the smoothest of starts to his Celtic career and some seem

determined only to see the negatives in his play.

A French under-21 International, the comparisons with Moussa Dembele were as natural as they were unfair.

Moussa had a few in the support declaring that he would never make the grade (smug alert - not this blogger) before his exceptional talents shone through.

But he had had time in Brighton to acquaint himself with British football and an English-speaking culture, which Odsonne had not.

In truth, I think it's clear that Moussa is a more complete player than Odsonne but few forwards of Moussa's age have his range of attributes.

And, as Tommy Burns once said, a player's value should be judged by what he can do, rather than what he can't.

In Odsonne's case, what stands out for me is his direct running on the ball.

There are plenty of big, strong lads who look like they could run through a centre half but few could take the ball with them when they do so and Odsonne's touch and close control are good enough to suggest that he is capable of causing a Scottish Premiership pairing significant distress when he is fully up-to-speed.

He had two chances against Morton, which looked as if he should have done better on the first viewing, but actually required him to adjust his feet due to some very good Morton defending.

While he is not the most graceful of movers and his feet could be a little quicker, he nevertheless does have the ability and composure to retain control in tight spaces in the box and that's an excellent sign that he has the potential to deliver in pressure games.

(One way or another, most Celtic matches are.)

Speaking after the game Brendan Rodgers said: "Odsonne was the key difference in the game.

"He shows his quality, his hold-up play, his movement, his speed, then scores a very good goal."

Many Celtic fans may have forgotten how difficult it was to fill the role of "third striker" in a team normally starting with one forward.

With positions one and two being occupied by the young sensation, Moussa, and the talented braggadocio, Leigh Griffiths, it seemed a potentially unattractive proposition for an incoming player of sufficient talent.

Be content to accept that two other players have prior call on the starting position but have the quality and determination to make people recognise your claim to the place.

In that sense, Celtic were critically vulnerable when last season ended and Odsonne has done an admirable job in giving the team that other option and making opposition coaches have to account for a whole new headache if their Plan A was working.

But with Moussa only now coming back to his best form after hamstring problems (which the coaching and medical staff have been exemplary in managing - plenty would have rushed him back, to his long-term detriment), and Leigh's recurring hamstring injuries clearly frustrating Brendan, Odsonne is emerging as a crucial player for us.

And that importance looks likely to increase.

Such is the interest in Moussa that the summer will likely see intense efforts to prise him away from Celtic Park. And Brendan is very unlikely to hitch his and Celtic's fortunes to the durability of Leigh's calf muscles.

That scenario presents Celtic with a major recruitment issue - and a huge opportunity for Odsonne.

It is highly probable that we will have to sign at least one forward and probably two in the summer.

Various stories have indicated that the fee Celtic would have to pay Paris St Germain for Odsonne is €10m (around £8m).

Many Celtic fans have baulked at the idea of making the 20-year-old our record signing (even though our most expensive players were signed when Odsonne was at primary school).

Is he worth that money to Celtic?

Well, given market rates, the circumstances at the club and the fact that Brendan Rodgers has had

almost a season to work with him, probably yes, though he still has work to do.

But with Celtic's season, hopefully, lasting for another 11 weeks (if we reach the Scottish Cup Final), Odsonne has a huge opportunity, if he wants it.

That's less than three months to prove that he not only has a long-term place at Celtic but can start next season vying for the position of first-choice forward.

If Odsonne demonstrates his full potential and shows the hunger and professionalism required to be a top player for Celtic, then the fans may be clamouring for the club to break that transfer record.

Opportunity Knocks for Odsonne.
(And I mean that most sincerely, folks!) 
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Celtic and Morton's Scottish Cup game should be cancelled with Scotland in the throes of the beast from the east

Like most Celtic fans, I'm looking forward to the Scottish Cup game against Morton but it should not be going ahead.

Celtic's players will benefit from the chance to keep sharp without overtaxing those who will face The Rangers next weekend, while clearing one fixture as the club pursues another domestic clean sweep.

But the complaints of Morton's Chief Executive, Warren Hawke should not be dismissed as mere cynicism.

And anyone mocking him for using the expression "life and limb" would do well to remember the time-honoured advice against tempting fate.

I am still saddened by the childhood memory of watching a car speeding down the road, as would become apparent, to miss as little as possible of a Rangers match that had already started.

None of those fans would see the match and two would never watch a football game again. The driver lost control and collided with a lamppost.

It was the first time that my young self had been confronted with the relative importance of football and human life.

Bill Shankly was wrong. Football is far less than a matter of life and death - or it should be.

But the Scottish Football Association, in its infinite idiocy, apparently believes that encouraging fans to take to the roads during a severe weather warning, with predictions of freezing rain and black ice is what passes for responsible governance and administration.

Worse is the decision to allow Kilmarnock's visit to Pittodrie to go ahead.

Fans' interests are yet again being discarded when balanced against financial interests, organisational inconvenience and broadcasters' concerns.

That day years ago taught me something practical, as well as philosophical.

That football can inspire people to make poor decisions at a terrible cost.

That can be due to peer pressure, flawed risk assessment, fear of disappointing others or a host of other reasons. (I remember one Celtic fan proudly telling me that he had once driven from Glasgow to Aberdeen while suffering from pleurisy, such was his dedication to the cause.)

We know that many people will take to the roads tomorrow, even though they should stay warm at home, and the dilemma is understandable.

But we also know that those who choose to drive will not only put themselves and their passengers at risk but other road users.

As a Celtic fan who expects a comfortable win tomorrow (if the game is not called off at the last minute, which would not be a shock) it is easy to say that I would take elimination from the cup if it meant that no one would be ruing the day that thousands of people took to their cars and buses because of the irresponsibility of the SFA.

But the only victory worth having, this weekend, will be not having to reflect that football is not a matter of life and death - or limb - it's less important than that.

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Brendan Rodgers rightly backs Neil Lennon, who is both right and wrong – Confused? You will be...

For those outside Scottish football, the attacks that Neil Lennon endured have been so unfathomable as to make it pointless to try to explain.

I once tried to illustrate this to an English fan – not just the sectarian abuse that, in my experience, usually leads fans south of the border to mutter about everyone being “as bad as each other” – but about the death threats, the real bombs sent to him, the Hearts eejit who assaulted him, admitted it and still got off the hook, despite having sent a letter of apology.

I say this because I do not believe that Neil brought any of this on himself and I would like to address that before going on to comment on his behaviour at the weekend.

As with any top football manager, Neil is in a high-pressure job in which the competence or otherwise of decision-making – entirely outwith your control – can be the difference between winning trophies or losing your job.

So, it’s difficult to criticise Neil when he is exasperated with the standard of refereeing in Scotland, which would disgrace any professional league or association.

He was incensed at referee Kevin Clancy’s decision to award a penalty against Ryan Porteous and sometimes it’s refreshing to hear a manager call a spade a spade – or, thanks to Google Translate, a Scottish referee an amateur.

When Neil let’s rip, he really doesn’t hold back. Speaking about Clancy and Scottish refereeing in general, he said:

“It's hit Ryan here [on the chest]. The ball is going a mile wide as well. We've seen it again and he can't see it from the angle he's at. This is the same referee who didn't given us a clear handball against Rangers at Easter Road.

“As for me being sent off without really being over-critical of the decision at the time, he's made it personal because I criticised him after the Easter Road game. I am not happy with him at all.

“To send me off, I'm far from happy. And then I can't do my job for the last half hour. Why can't we send referees off when they are so blatantly ruining the game?

“I don't want him refereeing us again this season. But I probably won't get my way on that.

“Huge decisions have gone against us this season. I'm at my wit's end with referees at the minute. You ring John Fleming on a Monday and you get the same ‘Yeah, yeah...’,”

“You go round in circles and I've lost a lot of faith in it, to tell you the truth. That's why I've not really got on the wrong side of the law this season. It's amateur. Mickey Mouse stuff.”

Most of Neil’s comments will find a sympathetic audience with Hibs and Celtic fans. The best that can be said of Scottish refereeing is that it is abysmal. The worst is that it is corrupt and it would take a truly objective – or at least distanced – eye to try to discern between the two.

So, when Brendan Rodgers offers words of support, we can take it that he is not just backing his fellow Ulsterman but is similarly concerned by the standard of officiating.

As Brendan said: “I have seen a lot of strange decisions. The guys are doing the very best they can, but some of it I can totally understand where Neil would come from.

“It was something that is in the heat of the moment. He has obviously seen something clearly and for Neil it has probably been tagged on to one or two other incidents that has cost his team.”

Both Brendan and Neil are right about the decisions (which we are not allowed to attribute to bias in any form, lest we be decried as social media cranks by print and broadcast media cranks).

But, while many Celtic fans are jumping on Brendan’s comments as endorsing Neil’s criticism, the Celtic boss is, as ever far more measured.

Brendan has far too much nous, experience and training to go down the route of claiming bias and he would be unlikely to attach his name to such comments.

He may truly believe that the officials are “doing the best they can” (and most probably are) but making enemies of the same people who Neil chooses to go to war with is neither pragmatic nor Brendan’s style.

Neil Lennon has had few defenders during his time in Scotland and he will surely appreciate the most respected manager in the land extending public sympathy for his frustration with referees.

But that should not be interpreted as supporting everything Neil says.

The previous villain was Stuart Dougal, who did seem extremely ill-disposed towards him, and most Celtic fans took Neil’s side.

Is Clancy a bad referee – oh, yes! Does he have a festering grudge against Neil Lennon – probably not.

But while Celtic and Hibs fans back the warrior from our tribe, something else has been almost lost.

However, badly Kevin Clancy may have refereed, Neil Lennon’s aggression towards him should not be endorsed in any way.

This was not a player on the field reacting to a vicious challenge but a manager of a club with a great history, seething venom into the face of a match official.

Many will have enjoyed that, but this blogger did not.

Some people learn to nurture aggression as a “stay-away” defence. That can be because of internal fears or, for example, traumatic experiences.

But there should be a reasonable expectation that people can go about their professional business without facing physical intimidation.

Neil’s combative qualities largely served him and Celtic well on the football field, where there was never a shortage of hostile opponents more than willing to inflict pain and damage, given a hint of weakness.

But the role of manager requires more measured judgement and controlled behaviour than Neil demonstrated at the weekend.

Make your point, Neil. Fight your corner. Focus a spotlight on issues that demand debate.

But don’t do it nose-to-nose with a man who, however flawed, has never presented physical aggression to you and deserves to do his job in a safe atmosphere.

Otherwise, you will stand accused of trying to intimidate people in a manner that would not be tolerated in any normal working environment.

And you may find that the kind words of sympathisers like Brendan Rodgers become thinner on the ground.

Oh, and another thing – settle in at Hibernian. You will never be Celtic manager again.
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