ODSONNE Edouard’s commitment to Celtic has been called in to question – due to his body language and work rate in their Premiership win over Ross County in Dingwall on Saturday.
Edouard returned to the Parkhead club’s starting line-up at the Global Energy Stadium after recovering from an injury and both won and converted a penalty early on in the Premiership fixture.
It was the fifth time the French striker had been on target in as many games at club level in the 2020/21 campaign and it set the visitors on their way to an emphatic 5-0 triumph.
But Duncan Shearer, the former Scotland centre forward who was at the match in Dingwall, was unimpressed with his all-round display during the course of the 90 minutes.
Neil Lennon revealed after a painful defeat to Ferencvaros in a Champions League qualifier last month that he had been irked by certain members of his squad telling him they wanted to leave.
Shearer believes Edouard, the record £9m signing who has been linked with a raft of major clubs in England and Europe this summer, could be one of them after watching him in action.
“You can read a lot into a player’s body language,” he said. “Look at Scott Brown. It doesn’t matter what the score is, he is in there digging. Callum McGregor is the same.
“But Edouard lost the ball a couple of times and didn’t try to get it back. I was always taught when you lose the ball you try your hardest to get it back. But his shoulders dropped. It was like he thought: ‘Somebody else will get it back for me’.
“It was almost like it was too easy a game for him. I don’t know if he has allowed his standards to drop. I don’t know if the fact there are no fans, there is no atmosphere, the game was pretty well won, were factors in that.
“But I was a bit disappointed in him at times. Not with the ball at his feet. When he gets the ball at his feet he comes alive. But when he didn’t have the ball he should have been doing certain things and he wasn’t.”
Shearer added: “Maybe I am wrong. But Neil said last month that there were a few players who were wanting away and I am now wondering if he is one of them.
“Celtic seem to get these strikers who do really well – then all of a sudden their heads get turned. Rangers have got the same problem with Alfredo Morelos.
“Who can blame them? It is pretty hard if you are a striker and you want to play in the biggest league you can and you know that big clubs are after you.
“Let’s be honest, the Premiership isn’t the biggest league in the world. You are going up to the Highlands to play Ross County and heading to places like Kilmarnock and Hamilton. You have to respect them, but they aren’t Liverpool and Manchester United.
“Maybe he is feeling that he wants to move on and improve his career and become a better player. It is difficult to offer them that up in Scotland. If he leaves it is safe to say he will probably treble his wages. That is a big thing as well.
“He has won the league here and won every trophy in this country. Where does he go from there? Other than the goal, I can’t think what else he did. His shoulders dropped. I thought he didn’t look as though he enjoyed the game.”
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