Former Parkhead winger Scott Sinclair has admitted that he wants to visit Celtic Park again in order to say thank you to the Hoops support.
The English winger spent a highly-successful three-and-a-half years in Glasgow after signing from Aston Villa. He made 167 appearances for Celtic and bagged a superb 62 goals and 34 assists [Transfermarkt]. In addition to that, he secured himself four separate Player of the Year awards in the 2016/17 campaign.
His time at the Hoops, however, ended with a whimper. Struggling for game-time under Neil Lennon, Sinclair left out the back door to join Preston in January 2020.
And, as he reflected on his time in Scotland, Sinclair admits it’s a priority to return to Celtic Park and say thank you to the supporters.
As quoted by the Herald, he said: “Celtic was an amazing chapter in my career. I loved it. I won everything and I won a few personal awards which felt very special. We loved the club and we loved the city. The supporters were just incredible and took to me straight away.
“I would love to come back to Celtic Park for a game one day. It would be nice to properly get the chance to show my appreciation to them for what they gave me. I never really got that because I left the club in the winter transfer window so there wasn’t an obvious way for me to say goodbye.
“But they will always have a special place with me and every chance I get I still watch their games.”
Scott Sinclair deserved a better send-off; will always be welcome at Celtic Park
The way in which Sinclair departed was certainly upsetting for the Celtic support. His career at Parkhead had been so trophy-laden that it merited a much more exciting send-off.
Even now, some would argue that the decision to let him go was the wrong one. The winger has been a successful signing for Preston in the Championship, whilst Celtic have struggled to replace him.
Lennon struggled to ever find a suitable left-winger to take Sinclair’s slot. Mohamed Elyounoussi and Mikey Johnston have impressed in spells, but neither have performed consistently enough to make the spot their own. It’s still an important issue for the new manager to fix.
However, it would also be ignorant not to acknowledge the fact that Sinclair’s own performance levels had been dipping. Indeed, Scott had become a shadow of his former self by the time he left Parkhead. Even if he was still making the odd contribution.
He’s now become a symbol of one of the most successful periods in the club’s history. He was Brendan Rodgers’ MVP and performed as such for long spells.
Hopefully, that Celtic Park return date happens as soon as possible. He’s a player who deserves one more standing ovation from our support.
In other news, Armstrong Oko-Flex and Karamoko Dembele have reacted on Instagram to a young Celt who finally managed some game-time.
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