Celtic got off to a positive start in their pursuit of a place in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League group stages on Tuesday as they cruised to a 6-0 victory over KR Reykjavik in their first-round qualifier.
Mohamed Elyounoussi got on the scoresheet twice in the game, while goals from Christopher Jullien, Odsonne Edouard and Greg Taylor, in addition to an own goal from Arnor Sveinn Adalsteinsson, helped the Hoops to secure a dominant victory over the Icelandic side.
James Forrest started the game and remained on the pitch for the entirety of the contest, however, he was not among the scorers and the winger was the recipient of some criticism from plenty of Hoops supporters on social media after delivering what some Celtic fans perceived to be a lacklustre performance in the fixture.
Some Hoops fans criticised Forrest’s impact, or lack thereof, in this match, while some Celtic fans questioned whether or not the 29-year-old winger will retain his place in the starting lineup for the Hoops’ Premiership clash with Dundee United at the weekend.
Start Frimpong ahead of Forrest against Dundee United
— c ?? (@hctelfih) August 18, 2020
Interesting to see who he goes with this weekend. Another empty jersey performance from Forrest
— Liam Martin (@LiamMartin91) August 18, 2020
James Forrest after putting another below average 90 mins under his belt pic.twitter.com/P6Q38zzxUi
— Matthew (@mjm67_) August 18, 2020
Don’t hink a seen James Forrest pass the baw forward at whole game, Frimpong widda embarrassed at mob
— Mark Jardine (@MarkJardine15) August 18, 2020
James Forrest is infuriating to watch.
— AJ_CELTIC (@AJ_CELTIC) August 18, 2020
James Forrest ruining everything
— Liam (@Liam2TLR) August 18, 2020
James Forrest looking lazy again. Chances of him being dragged at half time when we’re 3-0 up… pic.twitter.com/awlrlhIg98
— David Hackett (@Hackett67) August 18, 2020
Meanwhile, some Celtic fans reacted to Forrest’s performance in this contest by suggesting that some complacency has crept into the £7.2m-rated player’s game and they called for the Hoops to recruit some competition for the winger.
Today’s highlighted the need for someone to come in and challenge Forrest so he actually puts a shift in
— Seaniee (@Seaneeee01) August 18, 2020
Forrest floating about in his own wee comfort zone knowing his position is safe
— roy (@Airthreycastle3) August 18, 2020
Forrest needs dropped or needs competition for his place. He’s been off it for too long now IMO and he generally played his best football for us when he has competition for his place. Right now he’s virtually guaranteed a start because we don’t have anyone else.
— Michael Mclean (@mikeymclean1987) August 18, 2020
Is James Forrest complacent?
YES
NO
While these Hoops fans were evidently unimpressed by Forrest’s performance versus KR Reykjavik, some of this criticism may be somewhat harsh, considering that the winger has delivered some positive performances in the Hoops’ opening two games of the 2020/21 Premiership season.
According to WhoScored, Forrest has played the joint-second-highest number of key passes per game (2) of any Celtic player in Scotland’s top flight for the 2020/21 campaign thus far and the winger has also earned the third-highest overall rating (7.26/10) of any Celtic player from his two league appearances at the start of this season, so with that in mind, this criticism may be slightly over the top.