Callum Osmand has reflected on his time at Celtic so far.
Since being brought to Glasgow last summer, the striker’s progress has been far from linear. He has gone from not getting a kick to scoring one of the most iconic Celtic goals of recent times.
Largely, he owes it to Martin O’Neill. Though signed by Brendan Rodgers, he wasn’t given a minute until the interim boss arrived in the dugout.
Osmand has reflected on watching from the sidelines under Rodgers and the role of O’Neill’s backroom staff.
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Asked about the Champions League next season, he said of watching the qualifier this campaign: “That would be unbelievable,”.
“I was on the bench for the two games at the start of this season, and it was tough watching, because I wanted to give something and I thought I could have helped the team.
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“Hopefully we get it over the line this time and have Champions League football.”
On the impact of O’Neill’s backroom staff, Osmand continued: “They’re massive for the club and for us players.
“I think they’re the ones that we’ll go and talk to almost as much as Martin, that will go and help us with everything.
“Shaun is fantastic, and I don’t think people really see how much he’s done for the club. He’s been one of the main guys to help us and get us to win the title.
“And Fozzy as well, it’s just been amazing. His player-to-player chats that he has are just fantastic. As soon as he came in, he had a meeting with me and said he believes in me — and that was just amazing.
“It was just me and him and he sort of just told me everything that I’d been missing from before. And it really helped me.
“The first day he came in, I’d never met him, and I had a one-to-one with him, and he was just fantastic. It really inspired me to go and give what I could.”
Osmand wasn’t the only summer signing who found game time hard to come by.
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Hayato Inamura was labelled a “club signing” by Rodgers and appeared in just one matchday squad under the Irishman.
Shin Yamada followed him from the J-League. Two years his senior, the striker was also shipped out on loan after six months. He was given the same label by Rodgers.
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey has already played more minutes for FC Koln than he did for Celtic. His signing on a season-long loan deal looks equally baffling.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha has started just once for Celtic since September. He was signed for £5 million, and has been dropped from the DR Congo squad as the result of his lack of game time.
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