Forrest Continues to Shine for Celtic This Season

Martin O’Neill wants Celtic to get James Forrest signed up on a new one year contract.

It would be easy to put that view down to sentiment but the veteran winger is still producing the match winning moments.

Two seasons ago he came in from the cold to steer Celtic towards a domestic double when it looked like things could be slipping away.

Despite being the most successful player domestically in Celtic’s history Forrest retains an incredibly low profile.

Sebastian Tounekti and Michel-Ange Balikwisha are the latest pretenders to his place in the Celtic side.

Their £10m arrivals only emphasis the priceless input of Forrest

In the summer of 2023 Marco Tilio, Yang Hyun-jun and Luis Palma were supposed to see off Forest.

Almost three years later the quiet guy from Prestwick has injected a much needed burst of optimism into Celtic’s trophy hopes.

THE JAMES FORREST RESCUE SERVICE

Over the last six weeks Forrest has been bailing Celtic out.

At Ibrox, Pittodrie and Dens park his guile has turned games around.

Daizen Maeda earned a penalty, Ben Nygren and Kelechi Iheanacho scored winning goals.

Forrest did the same at Hampden today.

As a player at Nottingham Forrest O’Neill could count on John Robertson on the wing. There were no step-overs or nutmegs but Roberson was priceless to the successes of Brian Clough.

Today at Hampden Forrest turned the match inside two minutes.

He took one touch to the side then swung in the perfect cross for Iheanacho and suddenly Celtic were 3-2 in front.

Soon after the restart his cross into the centre of the park was intercepted by a Saints defender with the ball falling to Luke McCowan. 4-2 Celtic. Game over, Final place booked.

Recruitment specialists and analysts can look far and wide but they’ll not come up with a player like Forrest.

He should never be entering the last two months of his Celtic contract.

He wouldn’t tick the boxes for Wilfried Nancy or Paul Tisdale but someone inside the club must take responsibility and give Forrest exactly what he wants to add another 12 months of record breaking onto his Celtic CV.

MARTIN O’NEILL ON JAMES FORREST

I would like to keep James for one more year at least, so that he can see his career through at the football club.

I would be asking the board, I’m sure, to do it, I think James would stay for another year. He’s 34, isn’t he? 34.

Just the little bursts, the one versus ones. He has changed a number of games for us. He changed the game at Aberdeen. I know Nygren scores the goal, but he came on and changed that. We scored from him getting the cross at Rangers as well. He’s definitely played a part.

Neil Lennon was telling me, which I’ve known for two or three months, that he really is a proper lad.

ON TWO GOAL IHEANACHO

Obviously he’s had the few injury problems. I think I said to you that sometimes it he felt as if he started the games, he might not see the game through.

We’ve got a couple like that at the moment. But yes, today his goals have been big for us, really big.

He says he is completely fit, and I’m not completely sure! But he was brilliant. He took the goals magnificently. You can see why he’s had a career.

THE LENNON FINAL

He’s doing some punditry work. Gosh, he gets everywhere.

But he has done remarkably well. Did brilliantly for me at Leicester and at Celtic.

I think I mentioned to you on Friday that he’s done brilliantly. Here at Dunfermline, what an effort yesterday. So when the time comes, I look forward to it.