David Turnbull has enjoyed what looks like a resurgence at Celtic under the new manager, Brendan Rodgers. Having spent a full season in the wilderness after suffering a hamstring injury, Turnbull is now back in the Celtic first-team.
And after his two-goal display in yesterday’s 4-2 win over Ross County, Turnbull seems to have the form that helped him be crowned Celtic’s Player of the Year in 2020.
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports where he was awarded the Man of the Match award yesterday, Turnbull was speaking about his struggles over the last twelve months when O’Riley interjected.
In a brilliant show of support to his teammate, O’Riley said, “He deserves it as well. Let’s be honest, it was pretty tough for you in terms of last year.
“He’s too good not to play football in my opinion. And I think last season in terms of application, especially off the pitch, he just got on with his work every day.
“And I think now, hopefully he can really reap the rewards going forwards.”
David Turnbull deserves his chance at Celtic
Regular readers of 67 Hail Hail will know that I am a huge admirer of Turnbull. At just 24 years old, the Scottish international still has his best years ahead of him.
Turnbull has shown over the course of preseason what he can offer Brendan Rodgers as a different option in the Celtic midfield. And when he was chosen ahead of Reo Hatate for yesterday’s league opener, didn’t he just take his chance?
Let’s not kid ourselves, Rodgers showed an incredible amount of faith by dropping Turnbull for Hatate. To repay that to his manager will be a huge boost to his confidence and will only serve him and the team well moving forward.
Next week, it’s Pittodrie next. Travelling north to face a resurgent Aberdeen will be a tough match but one that I believe Turnbull will thrive in.
It will be interesting to see if Rodgers continues to keep his faith in the midfielder for next week’s crucial away fixture. But the only question that seems to be the correct one at this moment is, can Rodgers afford not to keep him in the team?
As O’Riley quite rightly pointed out. He deserves it.
In other news, “I’m surprised”: Stan Petrov’s verdict on Celtic’s latest transfer update
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