Thank God that we signed three attacking players in this window.
Thank God for Ryan Christie and for Callum McGregor and the return to goalscoring form of Scott Sinclair.
A month that opens with the news that Boyata and Benkovic will be out for a while, had one silver lining; the number of players who would be returning to the first team squad after long lay-off’s and, in the case of Rogic, an extended period away with the national team.
It is hugely frustrating. When it comes to this stuff we cannot catch a break. I cannot remember any time in the whole of Brendan’s tenure where he’s had the full squad to choose from for more than few weeks. The number of injuries we’ve had to endure of the sort that keep players out for more than a month is extraordinary. And it continues to worry people who look at it and think that it just isn’t normal for one club to be so afflicted.
There is no way that this particular injury can be blamed on anyone at Celtic Park; it was a knee knock he picked up whilst with the Australian squad. It only adds to the sense of bitterness over that particular affair, with Rogic, of course, being denied the chance to play at Ibrox.
It defies belief that we’re writing another injury story; it was the last thing the squad and the manager would have wanted.
Rogic is a “big game” player, and he has missed too many of them already.
If we had not gone out and brought in the footballers we have in the final third, we would be lamenting this one even more. As it is, he will be missed sorely but not to the real detriment of the team. It is gutting just the same, for us and for the player himself.
Get well soon, Tom, and we all look forward to seeing you back before the campaign ends.
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