Sky Sports pundits John Collins and James McFadden were left in awe with the display produced by mercurial Celtic star Tom Rogic.
Rogic hasn’t had the influence he would’ve liked this season. However, in last night’s 4-0 routing of St Mirren, he was back to his best. For the most part anyway.
He opened the scoring with a trademark left-footed curler that slammed itself in at the far post. He the provided an assist for Ryan Christie to make it 3-0 later in the game. Finally, the big Aussie was back getting involved amongst the goals again.
But perhaps more impressively was Rogic’s ability to last almost the full 90 minutes last night. Lennon took him off after 85 as Leigh Griffiths was thrown on for the dying moments.
And his shining display brought praise from both McFadden and Collins last night. Speaking on Sky Sports’ coverage of the game [Sky Sports Main Event, 10/02, 21:50], Collins said: “For me it was his best performance of the season. Straight from the kick-off he looked hungry, fit, sharp. He looked like he wanted the ball at his feet, wanting to prove things. Winning the ball back, turning, getting forward – Tom Rogic at this best.
“It wasn’t just now and again, it was throughout the whole game. All-round a good, first-class performance and what the Celtic fans need to see week in, week out from Tom.”
McFadden followed that up with the following: “He always plays with a freedom, he’s got that style, but he looked like he had a real energy and desire to go and track back, win the ball and drive forward.
“He looked really sharp and fit – it’s the fittest I’ve seen him, especially when he was driving through the middle of the pitch. And he kept going.”
Sky Sports pundits impressed as Rogic clocks up the minutes
Last night was even more impressive when you take into consideration the fact that Rogic lasted 90 minutes against Motherwell on Saturday. To manage 175 minutes in the space of four days is impressive going for the Wizard of Oz.
Whether he can keep his spot in the team remains to be seen. Seeing him in alongside David Turnbull last night was an important step. It’s vital he proves that he can play in the same team as his youthful team-mate. Because if we have to pick from the two of them, Celtic have to stick with David.
But that’s not to say Rogic doesn’t have his place. Lennon is clearly a huge fan and has shown a massive level of trust in the Aussie throughout the campaign. In fact, Rogic now has a total of 23 appearances to his name [Transfermarkt]. Not a bad return for a player on the periphery.
Yet it’ll be the direct goal contributions that will have pleased him yesterday. It was only his second goal of the season to add to his strike against AC Milan back in November. It was also only big Tom’s fourth assist of the campaign too.
It’s just important he gets people talking about what he brings to the table again. We know the talent Rogic possesses. However, a mixture of inconsistency and a lack of fitness has cost him in the past.
Let’s see what he can produce between now and the end of the season.
In other news, Jim Goodwin clearly wasn’t happy with one decision yesterday.
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