A little under a year ago, Scott Sinclair climbed off the bench in the 88th minute of already-relegated Aston Villa’s dead rubber match at Watford, just in the nick of time to witness Troy Deeney’s injury-time double that saw a 2-1 lead evaporate along with the last sliver of patience from the exasperated Villa support.
It was an episode in Sinclair’s life entirely of its time, both through the meagre run-out he was given on the pitch, and the fact that it culminated in abject disaster. It seems startling that he couldn’t even get a start for this woeful Villa outfit, who finished the season on just 17 points, half as much as Norwich City, the team closest to them in the table and who were also sent packing to the Championship by a comfortable margin.
The supporters had had enough, and the fact that Sinclair was reduced to fleeting cameos for the most part didn’t make him exempt from a barrage of stinging criticism from the club’s fans. Even when vying for their attention with the likes of Joleon Lescott on the back of his infamous ‘pocket tweet’ of a luxury car immediately following yet another defeat, and Gabby Agbonlahor, who was pictured smoking a shisha pipe in the midst of the club's most dismal set of results in living memory, Sinclair still took his fair share of the heat.
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Fans were all too ready to latch on to a judgement which, thanks to the English press, had followed him around like a bad smell after an unsuccessful stint at Manchester City. He was a flop, and to their minds, he was proving it all over again.
But for anyone who thinks that the right manager can’t get more out of a player than he might at one point be showing, then Scott Sinclair is exhibits A, B and C in closing the case on that fallacy.
Fast forward 12 months, and everything in the Sinclair garden is rosy. How fitting it was that it was he who plonked the huge bow on this gift of a season that Celtic have bestowed on their supporters, emphatically hammering home their superiority over their rivals with a brilliantly-executed hat-trick back at the venue where he set the tone for the season with his late winner on the opening day.
His blistering contribution against Hearts not only helped to clinch an emphatic sixth Scottish Premiership league title in a row for Celtic, but it also took his own incredible goal tally to 21 for the season in all competitions, and bookmarked his rehabilitation as a top-level player not only in the eyes of outsiders, but perhaps in his own mind. He has also chipped in with 10 assists from his station on the left of the Celtic attack, where he has predominantly been deployed, and electrified the league with his pace and direct running.
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It is astonishing to think when watching Sinclair in full flow, as he consistently is at present, that this is a player who was suffering a crisis of confidence less than a calendar year ago.
But it is of little coincidence that this return to the form that once had the biggest clubs in England clambering over themselves to sign him as a young man at Swansea, has arrived after as he was reunited with his mentor from his time at the Liberty Stadium.
Brendan Rodgers has rightly been lauded for many things since his arrival north of the border, and who knows, he may be about to broker a peace between supporters of Rangers and Celtic in an effort that would make the Good Friday Agreement look positively straight-forward by comparison.
But for all of his feats of resurrection this season, from Scott Brown to Stuart Armstrong and James Forrest to name but a few, his rebuilding of Sinclair’s shattered confidence and restoration of his undoubted qualities as a footballer has perhaps been his biggest trick of the lot.
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While Sinclair himself has acknowledged the influence of mental coach Jag Shoker on restoring his belief in himself, there is no doubt that working under a manager who knows how to get the best out of him, and who has unwavering faith in his abilities, has been the major factor behind his rebirth in Glasgow.
“I went through a spell when I wasn't really showing what I've got and people were questioning my ability,” Sinclair himself said. “But coming here and signing with a manager who believes in you, you can't really ask for more."
And Celtic couldn’t really have asked for more from Sinclair, who would be a worthy recipient of the league's player of the year award. If Celtic can hang on to him over the summer, and they will surely rebuff any advances that come their way for his services, and he can maintain his scintillating form, then perhaps even a long-awaited England cap will be in the offing.
It’s all a long way from the bench at Vicarage Road.
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