Neil Lennon offers honest thoughts on ‘very gifted’ Celtic star Mikey Johnston

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Neil Lennon offered some pretty honest words about Mikey Johnston and his current career in Celtic colours.

In recent weeks, Mikey Johnston has been pretty impressive under Brendan Rodgers and is now probably deserving of a start.

But Neil Lennon was pretty blunt in his assessment because he stated that the Celtic winger is in his ‘last chance saloon’ at the club, as he told PLZ Soccer.

Yes, injuries haven’t helped the 24-year-old, but given his age, it’s now time for the player to be pushing for those first-team starts.

Neil Lennon acknowledged that Mikey Johnston is a ‘very gifted’ player, but he feels that he gets ‘very frustrated’ too quickly.

That’s probably a reason why Brendan Rodgers hasn’t started him in a game this season, with only a splash of appearances from the bench.

Mikey Johnston at Celtic

“To be fair, the strength in depth showed against St Johnstone with Johnston coming in and making a bright impact,” said Lennon.

“You don’t know what you are going to get from Mikey from week to week.

“He gets very frustrated very quickly if things aren’t going for him. That overrides what he should be doing. He lets the mental side of the game get the better of him. It’s like sometimes you throw your hands around. 

“He is very gifted and he has always been very gifted. He has had a horrendous run of injuries. I think he went out on-loan last year to Portugal. He has been picked for Ireland. That will give him a boost.

“And now he is in and around the squad. He wasn’t featuring at all. He’s not a young kid anymore, Mikey. He must be 24 or 25 now. He will be saying that this is his last chance saloon at Celtic. He has got to, not just play, but play consistently well.”

Will Mikey Johnston leave or stay at Celtic?

This month of December, when the games are going to roll in thick and fast, could decide what happens to his future.

You would imagine, after Hyunjun Yang was hooked at half-time in Perth for Johnston, that the Irishman is now closer to starting than he ever has been.

And if he does get that shot, then he needs to take it, or else, it will prove to be problematic for the player.

There is talk of Celtic needing to boost the squad during the January transfer window and also trimming it. Johnston doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of that.