Mikey Johnston’s Crossroads, Sutton’s Dressing Room Solution and the Edinburgh Pub Talk

When Chris Sutton discusses the merits of players, I tend to pay attention. That’s not something I do with every ex-player be that from Celtic or anyone else who choose to give their tuppence worth.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and to voice it, but when it comes to Chris Sutton, he’s not just a former player he’s a former winner and he did just that both north and south of the border, as a League winner in England and Scotland. He therefore not only realises what it takes to make the grade, he knows what it entails in both dressing room and on the pitch to cut it at Celtic.

Chris Sutton of Celtic celebrates after scoring during the Scottish Cup third round match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park on January 9, 2005 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Sutton has been speaking today in his Daily Record column. And after going the through what he described as the ‘deadwood’ he felt Celtic needed to shed themselves of to streamline a bloated first team squad – 42 players folks, remarkable – he mentioned the likes of Barkas, Bolingoli and Albian Ajeti as the likely fall guys, and the ones who could help fund the permanent signings of Jota in particular and Cameron Carter-Vickers, alongside dishonourable mentions for both Ismaila Soro and James McCarthy. However, it was his comments on Mikey Johnston that caught the eye.

19 December 2021; Hampden, Scottish League Cup final, Hibernian versus Celtic: Mikey Johnston on the ball.

Mikey Johnton has taken a fair bit of stick of late and much of it has been over the top. He’s not a player I’d like to see head out the door on either a loan or a permanent deal at this time, as he still has plenty to offer and a point to prove. As such we are far from the stage of having to throw the towel in with the kid.

It was interesting to hear Sutton’s take and his constructive criticism –

“The really interesting one this season is Mikey Johnston. He’s taken a bit of a battering from fans at times. Johnston’s a bit of a showpony at times. But I’d keep him. Why? He has that unbelievable ability to go past players. He just needs to know when is the right time.

“When you need a goal or someone to unlock a defence and if there’s 20 minutes to go in a tight game then he can be one to produce a moment of magic.

Aiden McGeady (Celtic Glasgow)Photo:  imago/Colorsport

“His decision making hasn’t been good enough.’ Sutton continued “It reminds me a bit of a young Aiden McGeady when I was still there. Aiden would give you the ball when he was finished with it.

“It took senior players including myself, John Hartson, Henrik Larsson, Neil Lennon, Paul Lambert to emphasise in no uncertain terms to him about the right time to release the ball. He developed his game really well and has had a fantastic career.

“It’s a learning curve but Mikey Johnston’s 22 now, it seems like he’s been around for ever. He hasn’t developed as he should have done. The penny just needs to drop because he doesn’t want to have a career where he occasionally turns up.

“He’d be wise to take a leaf out of Jota’s book because he was consistently excellent before getting injured.”

Jota on the ball St Johnstone during the League Cup semi-final match between Celtic and St Johnstone at Hampden  on November 20, 2021 in . (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Sutton sums up both the worth of Mikey Johnston and the room for improvement perfectly, and although perhaps an argument could be made for Johnston to go out on loan and get the minutes he needs, there is an argument to say the dressing room could instil the demands required.

Johnston’s main issues are injury history and his on-field decision making. His injury record, despite being used as a stick to beat the player at times, is simply not his fault. It is an occupational hazard and one James Forrest struggled with in the early days too.

Mikey Johnston battles for possession with Stephen O’Donnell during the Cinch Premiership match between Celtic FC and Motherwell FC at on 12 December, 2021 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The argument over decision making however is the elephant in the room with Mikey. The question is, would that be a cognitive issue for Johnston, and as such will the penny never drop because the on-pitch awareness cannot be trained past a certain stage of development?

Or is it simply an issue teammates can remedy by ‘encouraging’ the player, when there’s too much trickery and it becomes ineffective, and instead assisting the lad as to when when Johnston should release the ball. If it’s the latter perhaps Mikey Johnston is best served remaining at Celtic, if it’s the former, a loan deal or even permanent transfer is inevitable.

For now, I’d be fully supporting Chris Sutton’s assessment of Mikey Johnston. I guess we’ll know by the end of the month if Ange Postecoglou knows if he has a player he can work on, or if Mikey Johnston has too much to work on.

Martin Boyle of Hibernian celebrates scoring his second goal during the Premier Sports Cup semi-final match between Hibernian and theRangers at Hampden on 21 November, 2021. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The rumour swirling around the bars in Edinburgh last night, of Johnston (possibly on loan) plus one other player on a permanent transfer going through there and Martin Boyle – who apparently has told Hibs he wants to move to Celtic – heading in the other direction. Hibs apparently will collect a cheque for £2.5m into the bargain., but remember that’s only Friday night pub talk.

Niall J

About Author

As a Bellshill Bhoy I was taken to my first Celtic game in the summer of 1987. It was Billy McNeill’s return to Celtic Park as manager and Celtic lost 5-1 to Arsenal . I thought I was a jinx, I think my Grandfather might have thought the same. It was the finest gift anyone ever gave me when he walked me through Parkhead's gates.

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