Auston Trusty shut up many of his critics with a Man of the Match display as Celtic beat Newcastle 4-0 to lift the Adidas Cup.
Pre-season friendlies are generally about getting minutes into legs but for Trusty, Arne Engels and Adam Idah there are other dynamics.
Through a variety of well placed influencers a picture has been painted that last season’s three big signings failed to deliver- justifying the return to Celtic shopping in the project market of £2-3m punts on players in the hope that Brendan Rodgers can turn one in five of them into a £20m boost for the Balance Sheet.
Paired alongside Dane Murray today, the former Sheffield United defender took on the role of defensive leader with Hayato Inamura on his left hand side.
There was a great awareness about his play, there was no margin for error against EPL level opponents knowing that many of the home supporters have already written him off, tagged as a dud with only his price tag keeping him in the squad ahead of the apparently wonderful Maik Nawrocki.
The unofficial narrative is that Brendan Rodgers is hopeless with money, he is a coach at best with no flair for identifying players and integrating them into his team. His judgement is questionable.
It is of course nonsense but fashionable, neatly overlooking the roles that Trusty, Engels and Idah played in last season’s Champions League success when 12 points were delivered from eight matches.
All three of those August signings played in Celtic’s 0-0 draw away to Atalanta, arguably the best result and performance of the season, coming a few weeks after the pasting in Dortmund.
The influencers have been briefed, Rodgers signings were risky and represented bad value, he should have shown faith in the job-lot of seven projects presented by Mark Lawwell a year earlier.
Sadly many Celtic supporters bought into that twist on reality.
May I request this Auston Trusty all season btw?
— Ryan Fitzsimons (@RyanStevenF2) July 19, 2025
He always steps up when we’re the supposed ‘underdogs’.
He just needs to be much more consistent but saying that there have been a few scary passes from him out from the back— Tommybhoy79🍀🏴⚽ (@ruchillbhoy79) July 19, 2025
He only does well against good teams I don’t understand
— ™️ (@CFC_jamesy) July 19, 2025
We fell for this last year too😂 fingers crossed for the big man tho
— Conor (@TatumMVP__) July 19, 2025
He defo looks leaner
— Jason Bennett (@BigJaso71) July 19, 2025
Was thinking that myself. Reading the game really well & looking confident overall
— Fitzy (@Fitzy__07) July 19, 2025
Trusty had an inconsistent first season at Celtic, not exactly surprising when you are signed on August 30, immediately head off on international duty, relocate to Scotland and become a husband and father within a 10 month spell.
This season should be a little calmer and more predictable for Trusty although he will be hoping to retain his place in the USA squad ahead of a home World Cup.
It is unlikely that he was Rodgers’ first choice as a left-sided central defender but when Michael Nicholson is flaffing around with recruitment on August 30 you sometimes have to roll the dice.
Liam Scales initially held his place in the side, Trusty and Scales played together against Atalanta with Carter-Vickers making it an all American pairing when Celtic beat RB Leipzig 3-1 in the Champions League.
Without doubt things went wrong in the first half of the League Cup Final in December, Scales replaced Trusty at half time, from that moment on Trusty seemed to be under a shadow.
The pressure has been cranked up this season but with pre-season training we are already seeing a very different version of Trusty.
Signing anywhere on August 30 isn’t ideal but in his 11th month as a Celtic player Trusty might just be asserting himself to put the influencers on mute as they hunt down other ways to undermine the judgement of the Celtic manager.
‘The current window is likely to have a bearing on Rodgers’ decision and they’re hardly going the extra mile to keep him.’
🆕 @mcgowan_stephen on the transfer window so far at Parkhead as pressure grows on board to smash the piggy bank.https://t.co/QNxRRhRCMI
— Herald Sport (@HeraldSportScot) July 14, 2025
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