RC Lens didn’t just praise Odsonne Édouard when they labelled him ‘cold-blooded’, they highlighted a trait Celtic are not currently seeing under Martin O’Neill.
Celtic are struggling to score goals this season and since the departure of Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn, the Parkhead club’s attacking threat has been weakened.
This was made abundantly clear after RC Lens uploaded a clip of Edouard scoring his 13th goal of the season in the French top-flight, and how Martin O’Neill must wish the Hoops still had him in their squad.
Who are you backing?
Odsonne Édouard still has what Celtic badly need
It’s fair to say Edouard has struggled since he left Celtic in 2021. Just 21 goals in 105 appearances for Crystal Palace has proved that.
But now at RC Lens, the big French striker is doing what he does best, and it will take Celtic fans back to his days at Parkhead.
That clip and the ‘cold-blooded’ description are not accidental, they point directly to Edouard’s composure in front of goal.
Composure that has sadly been missing at Celtic this season.
Celtic already know what Edouard’s record looks like
Édouard’s Celtic goal record shows exactly how that composure translated over time. 87 goals and 37 assists over 179 games made him one of the most clinical Celtic strikers this century.
He was not a streaky forward, he delivered across seasons and gave Celtic a consistent end product.
That reliability shaped expectation, not hope, in the final third for Celtic.
Celtic’s standard has not changed, they have just dropped dramatically
There is no equivalent, verified level of goal scoring of that same level in O’Neill’s current squad. Sure, Benjamin Nygren is doing a fine job in front of goal, but let’s face it, the Swede is no Edouard.
Édouard is still being recognised for his finishing, which shows that the benchmark he has set for himself is still there, it’s just that Celtic’s are not.
The issue is not redefining what a top striker looks like, it is matching it. That is why Celtic fans will look at Edouard and ask, what happened to the standards the Parkhead club set?
RC Lens set out to highlight a moment, but it does more than that, it shows exactly what O’Neill’s Celtic and the Hoops fans are currently missing.
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