It’s time for Celtic to say “Au revoir et merci, Odsonne. Bonne chance”

Callum McGregor is correct to worry about Odsonne Edouard’s Celtic legacy as the skipper fears that the player is going to be remembered more for the want away year and a bit rather than his overall contribution to the cause. With the transfer window closing tomorrow evening it seems almost certain that the French striker will at long last get his move with numerous clubs in England, France and Russia all entering the bidding.

That might even help Celtic get a few extra million added back to the price that has been steadily falling since the attempt early in the window to play hard-ball with Leicester City backfired. It is perhaps only human nature but Odsonne has not been able to fully focus on playing for Celtic and while we have seen flashes of his old self the truth is that the player we know he can be isn’t ever going to show up in a Celtic shirt again but will re-emerge when he gets the move he has wanted for well over a year.

It should be noted that to his credit the toys were never thrown from the pram, even when Celtic’s hard-ball asking price meant that Brendan Rodgers looked to the alternative option and signed the boy from Salzburg instead. That must have been a real sore one for the French Under 21 striker who clearly believed that he’d be going to Leicester this summer after failing to get his move at the end of the curtailed 2019-20 season when a combination of a lack of money in the transfer market in those dark Covid days and Celtic’s mismanaged approach to the Ten-in-a-Row season combined to turn Edouard into a reluctant Stayer who would in fact morph into a Want Away.

The lesson from last season could not have been clearer. If players were not 100% committed to playing for Celtic then they should be moved on. This is actually something that I advised Dom McKay personally in a telephone conversation we had days after he joined the club from Scottish Rugby. And that advice is still the same, so if for instance Ryan Christie does not want to sign a new contract then we should move him on now or let him train with the Academy if he wants to run down the clock on his deal.

Yesterday in his second weekly column on The Celtic Star, Gavin Devine from Indycelts, submitted an article – full of post match passion, with the blood still boiling after the disappointment of losing at Ibrox – on the subject of Odsonne Edouard. However breaking down what he was saying actually is very similar to what Callum McGregor’s message is. We are doing Odsonne Edouard no favours by continuing to ask him to play for us when he’s clearly desperate to leave.

The Celtic captain was asked about Odsonne’s future after yesterday’s game. “It’s obviously speculation and, hopefully, we can keep him. But, if that happens, then he’s one of the greats.

“He scored so many big goals for us. Derby goals, cup final goals. If that’s the case (he leaves), I hope everybody remembers him in a good light. But we want to keep him, obviously,” Callum McGregor stated, as reported by Daily Record.

For now there will be some still annoyed about his miss yesterday and indeed this has gone on against theRangers ever since Edouard became a want away – keeping players who don’t want to play for the club and are therefore not 100% committed to the cause does not work – however it won’t be long to we remember the days when Odsonne was the Celtic talisman, a skelper of some renown.

It’s now simply time for us to say au revoir et merci, Odsonne. Bonne chance.