It's taken time to adjust for Tom Rogic at West Brom, but his stunning strike off the bench against Sunderland could just be the turning point as his manager Carlos Corberan hailed him as "excellent."
Rogic was hailed as a coup for West Brom when they signed him on a free after his Celtic exit in the summer, coming off the back of a season that saw him win the PFA Scotland Player of the Year award for Ange Postecoglou's team. Parkhead fans were gutted to lose him and made it clear to the Baggies they were getting a quality player, but they haven't seen much of his undeniable class so far.
Rogic has struggled to nail down a starting spot and lost his spot in the Australia squad for Qatar - with his new manager warning him his reputation will earn him nothing if he doesn't knuckle down. But it seems he's taken that on board as he emerged from the bench on Monday night looking a rejuvenated player, scoring a wonderful goal within minutes of entering the pitch to spark a comeback that saw West Brom pick up a fourth win on the spin. Win their game in hand, and they are just five points off the playoff places - despite a disastrous start to the season which saw them pick up just two wins from 17 games.
Corberan said: "I think the performance of Rogic, maybe in the last two games before the break, and during the period of training, has been excellent. His performances have been excellent, and after training and working hard he can perform better in the football pitch."
The hype from Celtic fans wasn't lost on our colleagues at the Birmingham Mail either, as they wrote in their talking points from the win on Tyneside: "Regularly Celtic supporters will talk up the Australian's abilities and reflect on his contribution to their trophy haul during the near decade he spent at Parkhead, that despite him leaving Glasgow perhaps before his time - certainly in a contractual sense.
"The wait for a new club during the summer months eventually brought him to The Hawthorns, but it was obvious upon arrival that he'd not benefitted from a regular pre-season like most of his fellow pros, so patience was needed.
"The World Cup break, during which time Rogic otherwise would've been competing in Qatar for the Socceroos, might just have come at the most opportune time for the midfielder, certainly based on this evidence - it wasn't just his goal, but his all-round, highly promising impact."
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