Rodgers: Odsonne is so good I just stand at training and applaud
CRAIG SWAN
BRENDAN RODGERS says Odsonne Edouard’s class can leave him gobsmacked and applauding on the Lennoxtown touchline.
And with the French kid able to translate his style from the quiet surroundings of the training ground to cauldrons such as Ibrox, the Celtic manager has no doubt his humble hero can again be an Old Firm matchwinner.
Edouard has done it all before. Back in March his sensational strike to give the 10-man Hoops a 3-2 Ibrox success promoted him to the role of fans’ icon.
The following month, two goals in the 5-0 humbling of Rangers just rubber-stamped his position as a top-level Celtic striker. Whether it’s Champions League qualifiers, Europa League group games, Old Firm games, massive Cup ties, it doesn’t ruffle the 20-year-old.
And he does things so outstanding even his manager finds them hard to believe.
Rodgers said: “I find myself applauding due to the sheer c.swan@dailyrecord.co.uk quality that he possesses, which is incredible. He also has a great footballing brain and technique for such a young player.
“If he has gone off the boil and not been the player he can be in a couple of games, it’s nothing other than tiredness and the fact he’s also played with an injury, which is a result of us having only the one striker.
“But you can’t deny the boy’s ability. He has been questioned since he came here but I’ve always said what a huge talent he is and he has shown that at training and in the games.
“For us to get him for the money we did was a snip, really. I don’t set the price. I just want to work with good players and from when we first saw him, you could tell straight away.
“You cannot deny his talent or his efficiency.” Edouard has assets galore. Fast and powerful, he can burst through defenders as he did at Pittodrie in midweek to create the hat-trick goal for Scott Sinclair.
Cultured and composed, his Boxing Day finish in the Granite City was sublime.
And he’s adept and clever, as displayed with stunning through passes to create goals for Sinclair and Anthony Ralston in the past 10 days against the Dons and Motherwell.
Rodgers sees the all-round talent and said: “People say we need a target man but why do they say that? It’s not the way we play. We are a team which has mobility. We have strength