Odsonne Edouard’s performances this season have been overshadowed by nonsense talk of a crisis at Parkhead.
The Frenchman has been in fine form since arriving in Scotland. So far already this season, Edouard has managed to bag eight goals in 17 appearances. Four of them have been in Europe, as he continues to grow from strength to strength.
Considering the hype around Edouard’s permanent signing in the summer, the spotlight has been taken away from him at the start of the campaign.
Celtic were ultimately knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers in the summer. That was followed by a dreadful end to the transfer window. A few dodgy domestic results also, and Celtic were therefore in crisis according to the media.
Many of Celtic’s top stars weren’t performing to the level they could. Edouard, however, wasn’t one of them as he started the campaign well. An unfortunate injury saw him ruled of the second leg in Athens, after previously doing the damage against Rosenborg.
Taking on the mantle
With Moussa Dembele departing in the summer, it was down to Edouard to kick on. So far, he’s taken up the mantle of Celtic’s number one striker extremely well.
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Edouard is back in form once more with a brace against Hibernian following goals against St Johnstone and Red Bull Salzburg. Before that, Celtic were struggling. There’s no denying it’s not a simple coincidence that Celtic’s return to form has been helped by Edouard’s.
Leigh Griffiths has had his chance to be the number one. As much as he believes he should be, the Scottish star just isn’t good enough to play every week. Edouard, if he can continue to play how he is now on a consistent basis, is the number one by a landslide.
The early-season talk of a crisis couldn’t have been easy for the Frenchman. Desperately trying to make his mark in the side, he had to deal with plenty of off-field nonsense being spoken about by the media. The club couldn’t have been a fun place to play over the last few weeks, and Edouard deserves huge credit for knuckling down and getting back to top form.
He’ll lead the line against Hearts tomorrow. It won’t be surprising if he scores either. Edouard has had a terrific start to the season as he grows into his role at Celtic. It’s time he started getting the praise for it too.