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John Hartson has expressed his delight at news concerning a handful of imminent returns at Celtic, with the likes of Tom Rogic, Filip Benkovic and Oliver Ntcham all moving back into first team contention.
What’s the word?
While Benkovic returned to first-team football on Sunday afternoon, there was no place in the squad for Rogic.
The Australia international has been sidelined for the entirety of 2019 so far, but Neil Lennon has suggested that he could be set to return in time for the Old Firm derby after the international break, per Daily Telegraph.
With that in mind, Hartson acknowledged the quality he can bring to the club in an article published by Evening Times.
‘He really is one of the big game performers at Celtic at the minute and he is one of those players that you can look towards to make something happen.’
The gushing praise for the enigmatic playmaker is deserved to an extent, but he still has plenty to prove on the biggest stage to justify his glowing reputation in Scotland.
Rogic must prove he is a big game player in Europe
When dancing past defenders and dictating entire games from midfield Rogic has often looked a class above in Scotland. His performances have earned him affectionate praise and the ‘wizard of Oz’ nickname to boot, but his form in Europe has left plenty to be desired at times.
One of his most abject performances at the club arrived when Celtic hosted RB Salzburg at Paradise in December, a game which the 26-year-old failed to influence with any meaningful moments of wizardry; he crumbled in the club’s biggest game of the season.
Brendan Rodgers and his outclassed players ultimately progressed into the knockout stages of the competition despite stumbling to a 2-1 defeat, but Rogic’s no-show underlined the gulf in class between Scotland and some of Europe’s top divisions.
A big-game player in domestic competitions no doubt, and his return could be huge with Rangers lying ahead. His failure to galvanise Celtic’ attacking players against Salzburg, though, hinted that he must extend that ‘big game performer’ label onto the biggest stage.
