Goodbye Leigh, Odsonne and Ryan…
Three good Celts took their departure last night. The word is “good”, not “great”, but they have all had their moments for Celtic and we wish them well, even though Celtic fans tend not to like those who choose to ply their trade elsewhere! But life must move on. Our new players are largely untried, and it will be interesting to see just how they develop.
Leigh Griffiths has been with us since 2014, and he has scored many great goals, not least from free kicks and we recall with pride his two for Scotland against England at Hampden which almost made him the hero of Scotland and the talk of the United Kingdom.
Always a good runner, very fast and direct and he never gave less than his best for Celtic ON the pitch. But there was far too much of the Tommy McInally, bad bhoy, self-destruct tendency in him, and some of his recent behaviour has been indefensible even in the eyes of those who like and admire him.
Now 31, he has gone to Dundee on loan, but we know we will never again see him in a Celtic jersey. It is a shame, for he has done some great things for Celtic, and it is now unlikely that he will win anything else in the way of trophies. Let us just hope that he can toe the line at Dens Park.
Odsonne Edouard is still young at 23. In fact that was maybe his major problem at Celtic last year, living in a foreign country in those strange circumstances where travel to his one country was difficult, if not impossible.
That may explain at least part of the problem, but we found his apparent unwillingness to put himself about as baffling and indeed unforgiveable. He was wearing a green and white jersey! His heart was no longer with the club, and a change of direction was clearly needed.
Whether it brings him an International cap for France remains to be seen – I doubt it! – but it still remains very difficult to imagine Crystal Palace winning many honours any time soon. One hopes that in time he comes to appreciate Celtic and their fans who adored him for his goals against theRangers in 2018 and the part he played in winning the Scottish Cup of 2019 against Hearts.
It is sad to see him go, but it really was inevitable, given the awful performances he put on over the last 18 months. We wish you all the best, Odsonne.
Ryan Christie is the most disappointing departure of them all. A man of great talent, but had a poor season last year (his goals in the Scottish Cup campaign at an empty Hampden being the exception) and his recent game at Ibrox on Sunday was profoundly disappointing.
One suspects an attitude problem, and one day perhaps we will know the truth, but he leaves us with some great memories as well – my favourite being the Scottish League Cup final goal against Aberdeen in the 2018/19 season, the one that I describe as the three card trick goal and well worth a watch on You Tube.
Some fans didn’t like him, but I felt that he still had a great deal to offer Celtic, and one must really question his judgement in allowing himself to be persuaded to go to Bournemouth – all due respect to the brave south coast men, but they are not Celtic!
He is 26 and still has a great deal of football left in him, but I suspect that he will ask himself the question in years to come about why he turned his back on glory, fame and medals in favour of obscurity? Wealthy obscurity admittedly, but then again money cannot buy the great days and nights at Celtic Park!
A chapter has now closed. Time to face the future.
David Potter
All great things must come to an end. my time at Celtic has come to an end. I have wonderful memories at my time with the club. I can not thank the fans enough for the support and love through out my 4 years with the club. pic.twitter.com/8ZSkrsEuEA
— Odsonne Edouard (@Oedouard22) August 31, 2021
Ryan Christie would rather play for a mid table Championship club than Celtic. Hope he is getting paid. Clearly Eddy and Ryan have confidence in their abilities as they are already looking to the next move. A bigger move. Eddy will be hoping to make a step up to an Everton or Villa. Ryan to a Norwich or West Brom. Battling relegation and playing for a draw every week brings its own pressure. As for Griffiths, his career is reaching its end. He only has a season or so left. Pity he could have played for Celtic if he had remained focused and wasn’t so thiick. Wonder what Dundee’s Social Media policy is? Good luck to them but I couldn’t care less what they do.