Celtic skipper Scott Brown has given a glowing recommendation of the club’s recent academy graduates.
Before his departure, Brendan Rodgers gave opportunities to the likes of Mikey Johnston, Ewan Henderson, and Anthony Ralston before leaving for Leicester. Neil Lennon would then arrive and give Karamoko Dembele his first-team debut as well as name Armstrong Oko-Flex on the bench for a second time.
It’s fair to say that the club are starting to see the fruit of their labours with the Lennoxtown academy. Johnston managed 23 appearances this season alone, whilst Henderson nabbed a fine seven outings.
The majority of those appearances have given Celtic supporters cause for excitement. And, speaking in the Celtic View (Volume 54, Issue 44, page 15), Brown couldn’t help but give glowing praise of those who have broken through.
“The young boys are fantastic and they’re very good lads as well. They’ve come into a team with a lot of personalities and they’ve handled that really well. They have the personalities you need to win games and push those high standards in training.
“It’s been good for us to have some fresh faces coming in. They’re keen and very direct. They’re still raw, but they’re in the right culture to be coached to their full potential. The main thing I focus on is that everyone is maintaining the standards and they’ve done that brilliantly. They’ve come in and have pushed on by training with us.
“Mikey’s watched James Forrest and seen how good he is. Ewan’s been watching people like Tom Rogicc and picking up things from him. You learn from the people you play against as well and you take that into the game.”
Next season could be the best one yet
In terms of what we get out of our youth prospects, it really could be the best season yet when 2019/2020 comes around.
First off, you have the continued development of the players already mentioned. Johnston just looks ready to burst out and take Scottish football by storm, whilst Henderson’s raw technical ability will be more fine-tuned next year.
In addition to that, of course, we’ll hopefully see more of Dembele and Oko-Flex – two talents who have taken the Reserve League by storm this season.
But, in terms of new players coming through the ranks, there could be a few of those on the way too. Captain Kerr McInroy has been sensational this season from the midfield with the reserves, whilst Wallace Duffy and Robbie Deas have had fine campaigns at the back too.
Lennon could easily bring a couple more up to try them out with the first-team Bhoys when he feels the time is right. But the youth academy at Lennoxtown is seriously brimming with talent. Hopefully, we continue to see more of it develop in the coming months.
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