Former Celtic man and Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has been left head over heels with the rise of James Forrest after suggesting that the winger was “going stale” in recent seasons.
The Hoops forward is the talk of Scotland on Wednesday after netting a hat trick for his country against Israel on Tuesday night to help secure a 3-2 win and promotion in their Nations League group.
His form for Celtic has been just as impressive with nine goals across all competitions, and Nicholas revealed his joy at seeing the 27-year-old impress so much.
Speaking on Sky Sports News (21/11) he said: “I’m delighted for James Forrest because in the last 18 months in particular I watched a lot of him and I have to be honest yet again, he reached a level last season I didn’t think he would get to, I thought he was going stale.
“He’s moved his game on and he’s moving on again. He is already in the running, if not number one, for player of the year and we’re only in November.”
Opinion
Forrest has gone from strength to strength under Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic manager must be applauded for taking the winger to the heights he is currently performing at. His displays for club and country show a man who is full of confidence and that belief in himself means that he is able to pull off things that he previously would not have had the nerve to do, such as long range shots or tricky skills to leave his opponents on the deck. There is a certain amount of quality that was lacking in his game which has been found by the Scottish dazzler and it is that which has left Nicholas – and no doubt all of Parkhead – delighted. Still, performing at a high level is one thing but keeping up those sort of performances is perhaps even more important, and if Forrest does continue to shine the way he is now then Celtic have a potent weapon which will fire them to glory.