JAMES FORREST IN GREG TAYLOR CELTIC PLEA
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Despite a man of the match performance at the weekend, most people involved with Celtic still believe that Greg Taylor’s departure from the club is imminent.
However, one man that clearly hasn’t given up hope yet of Taylor staying is James Forrest.
The veteran winger spoke after Saturday’s 5-1 demolition of Kilmarnock about the impact and importance of Greg Taylor.
Forrest Hopes Greg Taylor May Yet Sign a New Deal
Taylor has often been an underappreciated figure at Celtic, but Forrest was keen to highlight the impact he has in areas that may often go unseen by the fans.
Forrest said: “I think everyone within the club, we know how much influence he has in the changing room and on the training pitch every day.
So, we’d all be desperate for him to stay.”
Forrest has spent his entire professional career at Celtic, something of rarity in the modern game, but he also understands Taylor’s situation.
Much has been made of the fact, that even if Taylor did re-sign, he would only be a back up from the beginning of next season, given Celtic’s signing of former player Kieran Tierney on a pre-contract from Arsenal during the last transfer window.
However, where many see negatives, Forrest has a positive spin on the imminent return of Kieran Tierney and the likely implications for Greg Taylor’s future at Celtic.
He continued: “Everyone knows that KT’s coming back as well, so he (Taylor) might be thinking about that.”
No player in the current Celtic squad has as much experience as James Forrest or has seen as many stars come and go in recent times.
Forrest clearly believes there’s still a chance Taylor could stay and his insight may yet prove prophetic.
Forrest added: “I’ve seen it before. At this club, you’re always signing players. There’s always going to be competition for places and it feels as though some people can thrive off that as well.”
Indeed, Greg Taylor’s Celtic career has been defined by his ability to see off multiple players supposedly brought in as upgrades on him at left back.
The latest casualty of this phenomena may be Jeffrey Schlupp, who was relegated to a place on the bench on Saturday as Taylor turned in a man of the match performance.
With talk of a supposed “done-deal” to Dynamo Zagreb now cooling, there’s still a possibility that Taylor could stay.
I for one would welcome him if he did.
Brendan Rodgers however emphasized that Taylor’s reasons for not signing a new deal so far were “non-financial”.
So, even if Celtic did agree to meet the 25,000 pounds per week that rumors suggest Taylor wants, that may not be enough to keep him.
For the time being though, it’s good to see that his fellow team-mates still value and recognize the huge contribution Taylor makes to our squad.