Some Celtic fans question James Forrest’s performance vs Ross County

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James Forrest’s inclusion in the Celtic team yesterday marked his first match since the Rangers game on December 29th.

Forrest was shoehorned back into the team yesterday as Celtic dropped Odsonne Edouard to the bench and played with only one striker. Unfortunately, it wasn’t one of Jimmy’s most productive games as he struggled to really test the County back-line.

Much of our attacks down the right and crosses into the area were instead coming from Moritz Bauer. It really was a day when Forrest just didn’t show us what he’s capable of.

And some were clearly disappointed with his display post-match too. Taking a look on social media, here’s a taster to the reaction from his outing yesterday:

https://twitter.com/Cr02887062/status/1221172332888313856

https://twitter.com/BigDoc872/status/1221105448625102848

https://twitter.com/donnies190584/status/1221111808637001729

Forrest’s contribution this season can’t be ignored

There’s no denying that Jimmy has been on a bit of a poor run of form recently. That’s always going to happen given the weight of expectation that’s on his shoulders.

Overall, we can’t underestimate what Forrest has brought to this Celtic side. It’s easy to forget, but he’s already scored 14 goals and managed 17 assists this season (Transfermarkt). In addition to that, he set up Edouard for goal number three yesterday. That’s 31 goals that Forrest has been a direct part of.

You can’t point the finger at Forrest and accuse him of anything other than he’s simply in poor form. The Scotland international has still scored big goals for us this season, and deserves a bit of leeway when he isn’t performing.

After all, there were certainly others who weren’t up to it yesterday either. Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, Jozo Simunovic, Jonny Hayes, and Leigh Griffiths all struggled to make an impact. Forrest doesn’t deserve to be singled out.

However, at the same time, we all recognise he isn’t playing well enough. It wouldn’t be a surprise if this was down to a lack of quality competition for him at right-mid. Marian Shved still doesn’t look anywhere near the team.

So hopefully we can get that sorted before the end of the January window. In any case, some fans want to see a vast improvement in what Forrest is providing.