Liam Scales has been on an incredible journey at Celtic.
Last summer, when Brendan Rodgers returned to Celtic, it was a testing time for all involved because the club had just lost the stability of Ange Postecoglou joining Tottenham in the Premier League.
A man like Scales had been out on-loan at Aberdeen and wasn’t exactly seen as a squad player at his parent club, never mind a first-team starter.
But life is all about taking your chances and, amid the injuries in the backline at the time, the Republic Of Ireland international was handed his chance, and since then, he has continued to grow and grow.
That was proven as Scales played a key role in Celtic beating Rangers in the League Cup final at Hampden on Sunday.
Pat Bonner was ‘disappointed’ Liam Scales didn’t start Celtic’s League Cup final win over Rangers
This isn’t a case of Scales doing anything wrong, it’s just that Auston Trusty has come in and got up to speed pretty quickly under Rodgers, and then become a regular alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers.
But, after just 45 minutes against Rangers and with the Bhoys losing, Trusty was hooked by the manager and replaced by Scales.
That call was even more interesting because, before a ball was kicked, Pat Bonner was expressing his ‘disappointment’ at Scales not starting, as he told BBC Radio Scotland.
“I have spoken plenty of Scales, obviously, I am disappointed that he isn’t in the team (starting),” said Bonner.
“Of course, as an Irishman, I want to see our international players playing, but I think Trusty has done very, very well. It took him a while to get up to match fitness and up to the speed of the game. But now I think he looks very comfortable. He is also good in the air.”
Why Scales replaced Auston Trusty at half-time for Celtic against Rangers
Given that Greg Taylor’s error led to Rangers’ opening goal, many thought, that if there was going to be a change by Rodgers, then it would be the left-back.
But, instead, he opted to take the American off and, not because of an injury, which many assumed was the case when the call was made at the time.
Instead, as Rodgers told Premier Sports after the win, it was for tactical reasons and the fact that he was unhappy with Celtic’s build-up play.
“We looked so clunky and couldn’t get through the pitch,” shared Rodgers. “We looked a wee bit edgy. So I didn’t like that, how we cleaned the game up. Scales has been brilliant, to be fair.
“He’s clean and Auston Trusty did really, really well. I just felt that he’s had the experience of playing in finals for us now, Liam. I just made that change and he came in and he was able to clean the game up.”
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