Ange Postecoglou yesterday hailed James Forrest as one of the all-time Celtic greats but admitted that this can be easily overlooked as he’s in the building every day just working away at his football. The Celtic manager was speaking to Celtic TV where he also assessed the start of the Scottish Premiership season where Celtic have enjoyed nine wins and suffered one frustrating defeeat away to St Mirren.
“I think it’s been positive and our form for the most part has been pretty consistent,” the Celtic manager said. “We dropped a game against St Mirren which we’re disappointed with, but aside from that, not just with our results, but also in our performances, it’s been really strong.
“People tend to focus on games like the St Johnstone one where we scored in the last minute to win the game, but whether it’s 5-1 and looking to get a sixth in the final minute, that mentality is there all the time.
“It starts in training and in the culture and environment that we’ve created here and, for me, that’s really important because you know in a season you’ll get challenged in different ways and part of that resilience is to go until the last minute.”
💯🗨 “You can see why he’s been so successful for so long.”#CelticFC Manager, Ange Postecoglou pays tribute to James Forrest after the winger scored his 100th club goal on Saturday 🍀📽 pic.twitter.com/r7O8SepiMp
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) October 18, 2022
And on Celtic’s latest Centurion, Ange had this to say: “James will go down as one of the greats. Sometimes you don’t recognise it when it’s in the building every day, but you can see why he’s been so successful for so long because he’s very committed to being a professional and all that entails.
“He’s very strong-willed and you have to be to survive at this football club for so long because of the demands and pressures of success as a team and an individual.
“You just have to see how his team-mates reacted to him on the weekend. He’s very popular because he’s one of these guys who is reliable and treats everyone the same way.
“That was important for me when I came here because there was a lot of change and having someone like James here who’s had that success and knows all about this football club was going to be a help.
“That’s how it transpired, but it’s not the reason I kept him about, I kept him because I felt he could contribute on the field and I think he still can.
“There’s still more to come, but when it’s all done and dusted he will go down as a great.”
James Forrest celebrates his first ever Celtic goal, on 1 May 2010. Hinkel, O’Dea and Kamara in the photo. Not sure who the other player is.
Great longevity and record to have 100 goals an 99 assists, 12 years later pic.twitter.com/1jGMRGIRPb
— Liam Kelly (@cfcliamk96) October 18, 2022
And James Forrest has been speaking to Celtic TV today to discuss his remarkable achievement in reaching 100 goals for Celtic, only the 30th player to have done so in the club’s long, proud and unbroken history.
“I was absolutely delighted… to score a hat-trick and get my 100th goal, it was a great day,” James said.
🗣 “I was absolutely delighted… to score a hat-trick and get my 100th goal, it was a great day.”
Exclusive Interview with #CelticFC‘s latest Century Bhoy, James Forrest 💯🍀 pic.twitter.com/0XlGBuehTA
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) October 18, 2022
