Former Celtic attacking midfielder and Sky Sports pundit Kris Commons has shared his sympathy for Scott Sinclair after the way his Hoops career came to an end, writing in his Scottish Daily Mail column (10/02 print edition, Verdict supplement, page 12).
Sinclair signed for Preston North End last month, calling an end to a three-and-a-half-year spell at Celtic Park.
His final 12 months at the Bhoys didn’t exactly hit the heights of prior seasons, finding himself on the fringes of Neil Lennon’s first-team by the time his exit rolled around.
He made just seven appearances in 2019/20 for the Scottish champions, six of which came from the bench (Transfermarkt).
It was quite the downturn for a player who made himself the club’s top scorer during our ‘treble-treble’ success, with the first season of that run particularly pleasing.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Sinclair detailed how he ended up training away from the first-team.
Commons understands the frustrations that would arise from such a scenario, going through something similar in his final days at Lennoxtown.
As quoted by The Scottish Daily Mail (10/02 print edition, Verdict supplement, page 12), he said of the comments: “Listening to Scott Sinclair’s comments over the weekend in an interview with the BBC, I couldn’t help but feel a degree of sympathy for him.
“Sinclair explained how he was left to train with the reserves at Celtic during his final few months at the club after falling out of favour.
“This was a guy who was the best player in the country just a couple of years previously after sweeping the board in terms of the various Player of the Year awards.
“To then be left out in the cold like a bit of an outcast after giving so much to the club is hard to take mentally.”
Sinclair will be fondly remembered
Despite the way things fizzled out for the winger at Celtic, he will always be fondly remembered by supporters. His legacy at Celtic Park is secure after helping bring incredible trophy success to the club.
Scoring a phenomenal 62 goals in total (Transfermarkt), primarily from the left-wing, at his peak there was no-one more dangerous in Brendan Rodgers’ all-conquering Invincibles.
Lennon did give chances to the player in the second half of last season but it was clear he just wasn’t going to gel with the players around him anymore.
The signing of Mohamed Elyounoussi has helped breathe new life into the position, with Celtic now also enjoying a 3-5-2 system that would not have suited Sinclair.
It was the right decision to move him on but Commons’ sympathy is fair. Hopefully Sinclair prioritises the good times when thinking back on his time at the club.
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