Lewis Morgan’s season has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride, and not in the way he would’ve imagined.
The man signed up by Celtic for £300k (BBC) last year remains a talented prospect. As it stands, however, it’s difficult to say he’s been anything other than a tad disappointing.
Supporters would’ve been hoping for an immediate impact from the former St Mirren man. Instead, they got a winger that flattered to deceive in his 13 appearances before January. Former boss Brendan Rodgers only featured Morgan on one occasion from the starting XI. In all 12 further outings, he was brought on in the second 45.
But the disappointing thing with Morgan was that in none of those 12 sub appearances did he change a game. He gave it his all, and showed some decent, tidy footwork at times. But even then, he still struggled with his final ball and often drifted out of a game quickly after coming on.
Rodgers had seen enough by January. He was sent out to Sunderland to work under his former boss at St Mirren, Jack Ross. It looked a great deal on paper. A move to a decent-sized club in Sunderland and to a competitive division in League One. Considering Sunderland’s goal was to obtain promotion, weekly results were required.
Sunderland loan move had its highs and lows
But if we’re being honest, Morgan never fully lit it up at the Stadium of Light either. Supporters were often hot and cold about his performances on Wearside, and once more, he struggled for consistent game-time.
It did prove more productive than his first six months at Celtic of course. Morgan featured in 22 of 24 possible matches, and managed to reach Wembley on two occasions before losing out in the Checkatrade Trophy final and League One playoff final respectively.
Morgan played 81 minutes of the playoff defeat to Charlton Athletic, making next to no impact. He also only managed to make the starting XI on 15 occasions out of the possible 24 matches. It was decent, but nothing spectacular.
He also left Sunderland at the end of the season having clearly struggled for consistency. His time there saw him score just two goals, although he did gather four assists. Again, nothing breathtaking, but it was more than the zero goals and zero assists he managed at Parkhead.
Morgan’s first season as a Celtic player ultimately goes down as a disappointment. He would’ve expected more from it, and supporters would’ve been hoping he could’ve rivaled Scott Sinclair down the left.
He has stated his intentions to make his mark next season (Daily Record), but even so it looks a tough ask. Daniel Arzani will be back fit, whilst Maryan Shved is arriving from Ukraine with a big reputation and an ability to play on either flank. Jonny Hayes, meanwhile, is back in the fold and will be another rival for Morgan to contend with.
A big pre-season lies ahead. Hopefully, it’s a more productive campaign than what we just witnessed.
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