Liam Burt’s career certainly took a dramatic swing when he signed for Celtic in the summer.
So far, the former Ibrox youngster has been developing with Tommy McIntyre’s under-21 squad. It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster return for him too, as he scored the winning penalty against Queen’s Park in the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Cup before missing one at Falkirk in the next round.
But the player himself is just delighted to be back home after an eight-year spell at rivals Rangers. There, he made three appearances for the first time and spent some time on loan with Dumbarton and Alloa respectively.
However, despite the experience he managed to gain across the city, he told the Celtic View (Volume 55, issue 10, Pages 34+35) of his delight at being back with his boyhood heroes.
“This is my boyhood club and, ever since I left, I’ve wanted to come back. I was around eight when I first joined Celtic and I left at Under-12 level.
“Then I was at Rangers for around eight years. Towards the end of last season, I just wasn’t enjoying my football. I had a talk with Rangers and expressed my feeling, they expressed theirs and we parted ways. Willie McStay was always back and forth with me.
“I had other options, but this was my main focus. I’m hoping to start every game in the reserves, score more goals and catch the manager’s eye. It’s all down to impressing every day in training.”
Liam Burt’s career has real potential
Burt may be back where he belongs, but he has one hell of a fight on his hands to break into the Celtic team. The player himself says he can play anywhere across the attacking midfield. He also admits that he prefers to play in the number 10 role if he was to choose.
However, the likes of Tom Rogic and Ryan Christie make for a seriously high quality of rival. But it’s something Burt will surely relish as he gets set on working with the development squad this season.
In addition to that, he deserves massive praise for this move. It takes a lot of guts to cross the Glasgow divide after already making senior outings for Rangers. Thankfully, the Celtic support have taken to his signing positively.
Ewan Henderson’s move to Ross County on loan could also provide him with a big boost. It opens up that number 10 spot in the under-21 side. At the moment, you would fancy Burt to play more often than not at that level. Hopefully, he catches the eye in this season’s reserve-team program.
In terms of his first-team chances, it’s far too early to predict whether we’ll see him this season. It will be dependent on how well he performs with the youth squad combined with how early we have the Premiership title wrapped up.
But, at face value, this continues to look like shrewd business by Celtic.
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