SCOTT Sinclair, the former Celtic winger, expects Odsonne Edouard to come alive against Rangers this afternoon. With 21 goals this season so far it would be wrong to claim that the forward has had an indifferent campaign in a wretched season for Celtic but the edge he has offered the Parkhead side in previous seasons has been conspicuous by its absence.
Edouard will head off to Hungary straight after this afternoon’s game to turn his attention to the under-21 European Championships with France. The leading goalscorer for his country at this level with 15 goals from 10 games, his credentials in a squad full of established talent are not in doubt. And nor is his temperament, according to his former colleague.
Edouard first announced himself in this fixture when he came off the bench at Ibrox and helped ten-man Celtic reverse a 2-1 deficit just over three years ago. His winning goal had then manager Brendan Rodgers purring about his ability and composure. Now at Leicester, Rodgers is among the leading suitors to take the 23-year-old to the Premier League this summer. Arsenal, Roma, AC Milan and Aston Villa are among the competition.
If the £40m pricetag that was on his head last summer was prohibitive to potential buyers with the economy in the firm grip of the Covid crisis, it his Edouard’s ability to rise to the big occasion that Sinclair believes will always be attractive to any club. As such, he has tipped Edouard to sign off for next week’s tournament by leaving his mark on the penultimate derby of the season.
“I think he is a player who comes alive on the big stage,” said Sinclair, who left Celtic last January for Preston. “He is a pretty chilled out guy off the park too and on it he is very calm and very measured. He has the right temperament to play at the very top level.
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“He will love the fact that before he heads off to play in a tournament where France are the favourites to win it that he will be playing Rangers.
“It gives him the chance to go there with a spring in his step and a bit of confidence. He will also be keen to score against Rangers and help Celtic win the game because it is a game that you never want to lose in.
“The league is done but I am certain that the Celtic players will feel as though they have a point to prove. They will want to get out there and show what they have still got. You don’t become a bad team overnight. They still have players in there that can do it and this is the chance for them to go and show it.
“Edouard also loves the games against Rangers. Starting from that game when he came on at Ibrox and scored when we were down to ten men, he just knows how important the fixture is and he relishes that kind of pressure.”
There is an argument to suggest this afternoon’s game is about little more than pride for Celtic. Psychologically, though, it carries weight. Having lost back-to-back games against Rangers at Celtic Park, a hat-trick of losses would put Celtic in an ignominious position that they haven’t been for 29 years.
“They know how to win these games,” insisted Sinclair. “They have it in them. “I still think they might want to prove something to themselves. But I fancy them to win it. Whatever anyone says, they have a team of winners in that dressing room and they’ll want to go and show it.
“It is all well and good that everything is fine when the team is winning. When things aren’t going well and it’s not worked for you, that is the time when you see the real character of a team and Celtic have shown that so often in recent seasons.”
The unravelling of Celtic this term has created a narrative that the title was handed to Rangers without any real fight put up. It has also led to a theory that the power shift in Glasgow this season is one that is here to stay. Sinclair was part of Rodgers’ Invincibles season and played in a Celtic side that dominated the domestic landscape and kept Rangers under the cosh. He’s not buying into the suggestion that Celtic will struggle to rouse themselves for a title fight next season.
“They will come back from this,” he said. “It has been difficult for them and it has been disappointing with the way the league campaign played out but they have not all turned into bad players overnight.
“There is a strong spine still in that team. When the confidence dips it can be tough to find a way to get the momentum back but I think it is too early to look at one strong season from Rangers and say that they will go on now and leave Celtic in the shade.”
Family matters allowing – Sinclair’s partner, Helen Flanagan, is due to deliver the couple’s third child any day – the 31-year-old will watch this afternoon’s game from the sofa. He no longer sports the colours of the Parkhead side in his day job but remains adamant that the impression the club left on him has not dissipated.
“Celtic was an amazing chapter in my career,” he said. “I loved it. I won everything and I won a few personal awards which felt very special. We loved the club and we loved the city. The supporters were just incredible and took to me straight away.
"I would love to come back to Celtic Park for a game one day. It would be nice to properly get the chance to show my appreciation to them for what they gave me. I never really got that because I left the club in the winter transfer window so there wasn’t an obvious way for me to say goodbye. But they will always have a special place with me and every chance I get I still watch their games.”
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