Celtic’s Injury Blighted Player Needs To Re-Establish Himself As A Viable Option.

The news today that Mikey Johnston is back and available for selection is great news for Celtic, and the fans will be pleased for him.

It’s great for Ange who now has another option on the left side of the field where we are a little short-staffed to say the least.

But of course, this is great for Mikey himself who has a chance again to show us what he’s got. This is a talented kid and no mistake but he is in a business which does not reward sentimentality and where he has already lost a lot of time.

Time doesn’t wait in football. And with the passage of time things change.

Teams evolve. Clubs add new players and others find new roles.

We haven’t waited on Mikey, although he plays in an area of the pitch where we don’t have as much cover as we’d like.

The manager is making plans for January; we have to consider whether or not Mikey Johnson ought to be a part of those plans.

That’s the balancing act every manager has to consider, and they have to be ruthless in doing so.

Mikey’s chance may already have gone, to a certain extent. He is certainly further down in the pecking order than he looked as if he was going to be and there are real questions and real concerns over his long-term fitness.

He has had a lot of bad luck. He needs a little of the good kind now, and a chance to show what he can do for us.

He needs to seize that chance as well. It’s no longer enough to get by on the reputation he comes with, of being an immensely talented prospect. He needs to show something, something real and tangible. The potential has to explode into accomplishment.

He, as much as anyone at this club right now, has a big, big job in front of him.

Yet in some ways it’s a simple job. Mikey just has to do what he is capable of doing.

When the chance comes, as it will, he must grab it with both hands. There is not the least question about his ability to do it. Tomorrow, he may get a chance to remind us that there’s a good reason for all the early hype. This boy can still be something special. If.