A few months ago, the thought of James Forrest leaving Celtic may have provoked the odd pang of nostalgic sadness among the supporter base at the departure a departing legend, but it would also have been widely understood as the best move for both parties.
Having struggled to even get into Brendan Rodgers’ matchday squad on more than a few occasions, despite the manager proclaiming him to be the best winger at the club, it seemed that a parting of the ways was inevitable. Forrest, at 32, needed to play, and he was behind the likes of Nicolas Kuhn and Yang Hyun-jun in the pecking order.
From that grim scenario though, Forrest has exploded back onto the Celtic scene. He has been in sensational form over recent weeks, bringing a renewed freshness and zest to the team’s attack that had been lacking from the right wing.
So, it is not only the man who is now the second most decorated player in the club’s history who is glad he stuck around. Had he followed through on some exploratory chats over his future back in January, who knows where is own career would have turned, or how the title race may have unfolded?
“I did speak to the manager a couple of times, and it was mainly just about getting that chance,” Forrest said.
“Sometimes it does come along, and I have managed to take it.
“Celtic has always been my number one and I love playing here and winning stuff. It’s unbelievable, but I am at an age where I wanted to play. I’m not 35 or 36.
“It was a discussion I had with the club, but I was glad when the window shut and that was out of the way. I was going to be here, and my focus was to work hard and hopefully get a chance.
“You never know how things are going to turn out, but it’s been unbelievable. The last few months have been incredible for me. And hopefully the final goes well too.
“I have always appreciated being here and I have always loved it. There will be a time, if I did retire or whatever happens, that I’ll look back.
“But Celtic will always be a part of me and it’s great to look back on so many highs and positives.”
Not that it was easy to be on the outside of the squad looking in for so long this season. But one benefit of the rather bloated numbers on the Celtic books is that Forrest was hardly the only one in that predicament, and he revealed that the fringe men have been driving each other on all season to put the work in so that they can catch their manager’s eye.
In fact, it is notable just how fit Forrest has appeared since his re-emergence into the Celtic team, with the veteran feeling that his impressive physical condition has been one of the keys to the impact he has been able to make for his side.
“It was good because it wasn’t just me in that position,” he said.
“There were four or five of us who weren’t in the squads and maybe when the team was playing, we were at Lennoxtown doing a training session.
“To be honest, we all pushed each other. It was hard because you didn’t know if you would get a chance but you had to make sure you were ready if you did.
“There was no point in tossing off the training and not doing it. If you do that, you wouldn’t be fit enough and ready when you did get a chance.
“It’s maybe credit to the players I trained with that they kept us going.
“It would be hard to get it back if you didn’t train as hard as you possibly could. Every player at Celtic trains hard and it was down to that."
Forrest, however, doesn’t want his happy ending this season to be an ending to his Celtic career. He has Bobby Lennox’s medal record in his sights, for a start, but he hopes to have shown over the last couple of months that he still has plenty to offer going into next season and beyond.
“I am at an age where everyone will talk about my age, and that I’m older,” he said.
“I do want to keep playing for as long as I can, and for as long as I feel good.
“I do feel older because I have been here a long time and been through a lot. We do keep signing younger players too - but that’s the way the club is going.
“For me that’s good as even older players can learn off the younger ones. It’s good to work with younger boys and older guys.
“Whenever we sign a winger, I can learn off them because they can do different stuff.
“You look at their game and see if you can add something, and that is what I have always tried to do.”
It is Forrest, though, who is currently putting on something of a masterclass.
