I’m not a fan of social media but a friend of mine sent me an interesting Twitter (or X as it’s now known) thread on Bosun Lawal earlier that really got me thinking about the future of my fellow Irishman under Brendan Rodgers.
Like the majority of Celtic fans I have little interest in the English game, the only real reason I keep up to date with their leagues is to help me (unsuccessfully) with my football accumulator on a Saturday! I do however like to keep an eye on players who we have out on loan in England, and Bosun Lawal is definitely one that has garnered a bit of interest last season.
Lawal headed to Fleetwood Town at the beginning of last season, where we hoped he would excel under the tutelage of Celtic legend Scott Brown who was the manager at the League One club. At the beginning Lawal was played in the Centre Back position, where he mostly played during his time with the Celtic B team.
Unfortunately for Scott he didn’t last long that season at the helm and was replaced by Lee Johnson, who of course we would know from his time at Hibs. He also utilised Lawal at the back, sometimes at Centre Back and other times at Wing Back.
It wasn’t until Charlie Adam, another name we will all recognise after his time at the old Rangers, signed up as manager that we saw Lawal being played in Centre Midfield, a position it seems that he really began to shine in. My knowledge of how he was doing was based purely on the match reports I read from Fleetwood’s matches. He was often mentioned as being a standout in games. He chipped in with 6 goals and 2 assists during the season, not bad when you consider the first half of the campaign he was played in defence. According to FotMob he had an average rating of 7.07 per game. As I said this was about the only knowledge I had on how he was doing until today.
Who is Bosun Lawal and why will he be sought after this summer?
(🧵) RT’s appreciated.
The Irishmen had a massive breakthrough this season, at my club Fleetwood.
I feel like this will give a more in depth analysis on what fans should expect.
Hope you enjoy!@BosunLawal3 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/SL1jk7AlsM
— Jack (@jkanalysis7) June 6, 2024
A young aspiring football analyst by the name of Jack who is a Fleetwood Town fan has done an excellent thread that delves deep into Lawal’s stats this season. He has backed up the stats with an in depth analysis of all his strengths including defending, ball carrying abilities, strength, playing under pressure, ball winning ability, passing range and goal scoring ability.
He has supplemented this with short videos to prove his point on each section. Fair play to this young lad who is only 16 for putting so much time and effort into this, it really is impressive and I hope if you all have a bit of time you will check out his work because it really did open my eyes to the fact we could have a really good player on our hands who is improving steadily.
Having studied this thread I’m really impressed in what I see from Bosun Lawal. In the clips I watched he looked to possess a lot of the attributes Celtic fans have been calling out for from a midfielder. We knew he was a physical specimen, standing at 6″2 and robustly built he certainly knows how to put himself about.
I was however more surprised by his abilities on the ball. He seems like he has a good first touch, often turning quickly to get away from an opposition player and power forward. He looks to have plenty of speed for a big man also. His passing, both short and long range looks tidy and most of his goals were excellent.
He seems to be made in the mould of former Celtic fan favourite Victor Wanyama. Now I’m not saying he’s anywhere near the level of the big Kenyan but don’t forget Victor was a rough diamond when we first acquired his services from Belgian club Beerschot. We have never really replaced Wanyama in our midfield, yes we had Scott Brown who was a club legend playing in Centre Midfield but he was a different type of player. We have been crying out for a strong, powerful, box to box midfielder for a long time.
Many will read this and think, well he’s proved himself in League One in England but Celtic is a massive step up from that level, and you would be right. Don’t forget however that Callum McGregor came back from playing at that level with Notts County a completely different player so don’t rule out Lawal being able to step up like our current club captain did.
We know that the comments section on these types of threads should mostly be taken with a pinch of salt but from what is being said in there by not only Fleetwood fans but also fans of other League One clubs who saw him play last season are all in agreement that he is destined to play at a much higher level.
One thing we have in Brendan Rodgers is a manager who prides himself on being able to work with and advance the careers of young players. We haven’t saw much of this in his second spell in charge as he was focused on getting Celtic through a sticky season where winning the league at all costs was imperative. He will certainly be looking to integrate more up and coming players next season however, with the likes of Daniel Kelly and Rocco Vata being prime examples if they decide to stay at Celtic Park. We shouldn’t rule out Lawal making the step up either however.
It will be up to Brendan Rodgers to assess Bosun Lawal and decide whether he would be best served training and playing a bit part with the Celtic team next season or whether he would progress better moving back to England for another season, perhaps this time with a step up to a championship club.
If he does I think the most important thing will be the choice of club. Fleetwood have been relegated to League Two so he obviously wont be returning there but I would like to see him going to a club perhaps aiming for promotion, who play attacking football similar to what will be expected at Celtic.
Definitely an interesting one that we should all be keeping an eye on.
Conall McGinty
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Personally believe lawal will be worthy of a squad place with ourselves next season imo?
His versatility is an advantage, but moreso as qualifies as potentially one of our 8 homegrown players?
His game time might be a bit limited, yet we already know with Rodgers, if you take your opportunity when it comes along, then you don’t just get outed either?
We ended up using 6 CB last season, so still think that 5 CB will be used in making up next season squad imo?
Yet to see if Rodgers might be seeing weather lawal is best suited as a CB or a midfield player?
But lawal having that versatility possibly means he could leapfrog Welsh for a place in next season squad imo?
Pre season will possibly be huge for lawal, along with a few others, to make a claim for a place within the squad Rodgers will be looking to form.
Makes the American pre season tour, so big for numerous players within our squad currently, to determine there plans for next season?
By the sounds of things, it seems lawal has the ability to claim a squad place for next season?
Really hope he takes his opportunity when it arises, but already seems that competition for the CB positions in next season squad is potentially starting to heat up, which hopefully becomes the case for many positions within the playing squad for next season?