‘You can’t’ – BBC pundit can’t believe what he is still saying about James Forrest at Celtic in 2025

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James Forrest stood above them all in 2025.

The legendary winger became Celtic’s most decorated player of all time when he picked up trophy number 26 in April 2025 by helping his boyhood club secure Premiership title number 55.

But on Sunday, it was back to the grind for Forrest because Celtic kicked off the new season by beating St Mirren 1-0 on Flag Day.

Brendan Rodgers started with Hyunjun Yang on the right, with Nicolas Kuhn leaving for Como, as Forrest came off the bench to make an impact.

• READ MORE: James Forrest now joins Celtic top table of goal-scoring pantheons, only four other legends have achieved this feat

What James Forrest is still doing for Celtic in 2025

The game as a whole wasn’t what fans want to see, and it’s pretty clear that a lot of work needs to be done, even if Celtic are the champions of Scotland.

But Scott Allan thinks it was Forrest who changed the game when he came on for Yang on the right flank just after the hour mark.

Speaking on the Scottish Football Podcast, Allan explained that Forrest ‘changing games’ is still being talked about in 2025, and that shows ‘how good of a player he is.’

“I think in that first half you could see that they didn’t play with the same intensity that you usually see with this Celtic side,” said Allan.

“I think in the second half, there was a lot more urgency. I think the biggest difference, for me, was James Forrest coming onto the park. They are still talking about James Forrest changing games for Celtic in 2025. It just tells you how good a player he is.”

Celtic ‘can’t rely’ on Forrest

It’s not a good look for someone like Yang if Forrest, at the age of 34, is proving to be more of a problem for the opposition than he is.

Allan wanted to point out that Celtic simply ‘can’t rely’ on a player like Forrest, and that’s why the manager is calling for more bite out wide.

Remember, this is a Celtic side without Kuhn and also Jota, who is injured until probably 2026.

“Maybe why Brendan Rodgers has spoken about wanting to get players in,” added Allan.

“You can’t rely on James Forrest every game to want to be the guy who wants to be direct. He wants to go and create something. He wants to go down the line and put balls into the box. He was fantastic when he came on. He gave Celtic that urgency.”