England? The Premier League? Na, I’d rather keep playing for Celtic! That is the consistent message put out by Celtic winger James Forrest.
The 27 year old is entering the last year of his contract but he only wants to sign for one club and that’s the one he has called home since he was a wee boy.
Celtic is all that James Forrest knows and he likes it that way. Yeah guys like Stuart Armstrong can leave and head south for the bigger pay-packet. That was a long term strategic decision for the Inverness born midfielder who was a lovely guy but never really ‘got’ Celtic – despite the glory, despite the hero-worship, despite the song.
Sometimes money talks though and Armstrong always had the belief in his own abilities and reckoned he was good enough to play in the richest league in the world. He got there thanks to the platform that Brendan Rodgers’ side game him and we’ll watch his progress with a moderate level of interest as the season unfolds.
Tomorrow though James Forrest will see a flag unfold – again. That will be seven in row for the player and for the club. He is happy to hang about and enjoy more days like this at Celtic.
“When you come through at Celtic and you are playing in the Champions League, the European nights here and you are winning trophies, you don’t want to take it for granted.
“The last couple of years have been unbelievable for the fans and the club and I would love to continue that.
“The club is massive and I definitely want to stay here as long as I can.
“When I spoke to him (the manager) it was positive from him. I would love to get it done pretty quick and just focus on playing.
“I have been here since I was a wee boy, made my debut at 18 and I have had so many big games and great moments for this club.
“So I just want to keep working hard and hopefully there is more of that to come in the years to come.”
Forrest reckons Celtic are well placed to continue staging Flag Days every August and he is confident that next year we’ll all be there for the 8th flag to go up in a row – he reckons that the success will be hard won though as other teams are trying to strengthen to mount a challenge.
“The expectation is always high at Celtic and you are expected to win every game,” Jamesy said.
“We have a big squad, a lot of good players, international players and we have coped with it before and we are confident that we can continue to cope with it.
“It was tough last year and the teams around us are strengthening so we need to make sure we are at it in every game because we know it is going to be tough.”
