James Forrest is the gift that keeps on giving for Celtic after he added yet another trophy to his incredible haul at Parkhead by winning the Scottish Premiership at Rugby Park yesterday.
The 32-year-old is now Celtic’s joint-second most decorated player behind only Bobby Lennox, which is an unbelievable achievement in the modern footballing era.
Despite being on the fringes for much of the campaign, Forrest has come in clutch in the latter stage of the season and now has seven goals and two assists from 27 appearances, with four strikes in his last five.
Back in March, Brendan Rodgers labelled Forrest Celtic’s ‘best winger’ relating to raw ability, a comment that caught some off-guard given his lack of involvement at the time.
Lo and behold, the Irishman had a valid point. Whether he is the Hoops’ best wide option or not is subject to debate; however, this is another example of Rodgers’ astute man-management, where he is able to squeeze an extra 10% from the group he has available.
Calls for Forrest to receive a call-up to Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for EURO 2024 aren’t without merit, and his display at Rugby Park was a vintage one as Celtic wrapped up their 54th title in some style.
James Forrest put on a show against Kilmarnock
Per Fotmob, Forrest played 62 minutes against Kilmarnock, earning a match rating of 8.6/10. This made him Celtic’s joint-second-most productive performer at Rugby Park alongside Daizen Maeda.
Overall, the Prestwick-born man completed 31 out of his 33 attempted passes, took on four shots, laid on three chances and took 41 touches, five of which were in the opposition penalty area. He also recorded 100% crossing accuracy, so you see why his exploits deserve admiration.
Despite Celtic spending most of the game on the front foot, Forrest also chimed in with some valuable defensive contributions, making a clearance and interception apiece, performing two recoveries, and two ‘defensive actions’ in total.
An elite level of professionalism is needed in a successful dressing room to breed a winning culture. Forrest could’ve made a fuss over his lack of game time earlier in the campaign, but he waited for his chance and hasn’t looked back since.
Now, it appears there is little chance of Rodgers dropping Forrest for his side’s last two matches of the season. Celtic are champions of Scotland, and their homegrown hero is set to pick up yet another medal to put in his cabinet on Saturday.