Neil Lennon may just have played a man management blinder with Scott Sinclair.
The Englishman marked his first appearance in almost two months with a goal in midweek. Sinclair came off the bench to strike the fifth and final goal in the rout of Partick Thistle and he celebrated emphatically in front of the Celtic faithful.
His tweet the following day confirmed what a lot of Celtic fans had suspected: the fire in Scott Sinclair’s belly has returned.
Lennon has made Sinclair take nothing for granted
There was a period under Brendan Rodgers when you got the impression that Sinclair was undroppable. No matter how the former Swansea man played, you knew his place in the following week’s starting line-up would be assured.
Part of that was down to his relationship with Rodgers. Part was down to the fact that we had few other top options on the left-wing. None of it was right.
That’s probably why there was such an outrage when Sinclair was axed from the team at the start of this season. There were signs last year that the Englishman wasn’t Neil Lennon’s cup of tea. Yet he still played a big role in some huge games. But early this season you could tell that something had changed. Players like Lewis Morgan and Mikey Johnston were now ahead of Sinclair in the pecking order.
Lennon may well have been sending a message to the 30-year-old. His exclusion showed that he wasn’t guaranteed a place in his team like he was with Rodgers before. Sinclair would have to work hard both on and off the pitch to make his mark.
He’s still got a long way to go and has the likes of Johnston and Mohamed Elyounoussi currently ahead of him. But the very fact that Lennon gave him a chance on Wednesday shows that Sinclair still has hope.
A Scott Sinclair with something to prove is some proposition. The rest of the league may be about to find that out.
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