NEW Celtic signing Lewis Morgan was told he was destined to end up playing junior football by a former St. Mirren manager when he was attempting to break into the first team as a kid, his team mate Craig Samson has revealed.
Morgan has become one of the most exciting prospects in Scottish football in the past couple of seasons and clinched a £300,000 move to Parkhead this month before being loaned back to the Paisley club until the end of the 2017/18 campaign.
The two-footed winger is once again expected to be the danger man for Jack Ross’s on-form side when they take on Aberdeen in the pick of the William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round ties at Pittodrie early this afternoon.
However, St. Mirren keeper Samson has spoken of how the prodigiously talented 21-year-old’s hopes of making it as a professional were completely dismissed by a former manager when he was just a teenager.
He refused to name the individual who had made the scathing assessment of Morgan’s prospects, but it is believed it was Alex Miller, the former Hibernian and Aberdeen manager and Scotland and Liverpool assistant, who had a brief spell in charge as caretaker at the end of 2015.
“He was written off by managers who were here before,” said Samson. “He has been told by different people at this club that he wouldn’t be playing football in a year. He was told he would be playing junior football by a certain manager at this club. It shows the character he has that he has kicked on and proved people wrong and he has got a move to Celtic.
“I won’t say who the manager is, but it is something Lewis told me. A few people had written him off. He got released from Rangers as a kid and was written off. But now he finds himself in a position where he can look back at those people and say ‘well there you go’. He has to keep going when he goes to Celtic but he knows that.”
Samson added: “It made me laugh when I heard what he had been told more than anything. It is something that shouldn’t be said to a young kid, but it shows his character. Some young boys would crumble, but Lewis is the type of boy who deals with it.
“He is a good professional who helps the younger boys out and it is a credit to him that he has done so well. It isn’t about Lewis it is about the whole team and we know what he brings to us, but he knows what everyone else brings to help him.”
The 33-year-old believes Ross, who has totally transformed the fortunes of St. Mirren since taking over as manager two years ago and led them from the bottom to the top of the Ladbrokes Championship in little more than a season, for getting the best out of Morgan
Samson added: “It’s a funny old game football. Some people want to bring people down in the game. That is where our manager is different. He has a relationship with everyone and he knows how to push your buttons and get the best out of them.
“He knows who to give a kick up the backside and the ones who he has to put his arm around them and speaking to them. I think he has got the best out of Lewis by doing that. I know Brendan Rodgers has been a big admirer of Lewis for a long time and he has watched him for a while and it makes him think he can help Celtic out.”
Samson has no doubts Morgan will be a success at Celtic after he moves there in the summer and is confident he will show he can perform at the highest level when St. Mirren play the second best team in the country in the cup at Pittodrie later today.
“It is a great opportunity for him to show what he can do,” he said. “He has done fantastically well for St Mirren and he deserves his move to Celtic and everything he gets.
“When he goes there he knows he will have to go up another level to try and get in their team. Playing for us against Aberdeen will be different to playing for Celtic against Aberdeen as we are at two different levels. But he will want to show everyone he is a top player.
“I don’t have any doubt he can make it at Celtic. He showed how good he is with the Scotland Under-21s and he has shown it here.
“He was a young boy when I was here before and he has had a couple of knocks and been written off by people at this club before. But he keeps coming back for more and this year he has been different class. He knows if he goes to Celtic and stays still then it won’t work for him, but I can’t see that happening.”
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