Forget crack at Qatar hero, Tom is on song here

IT’S a year since Celtic accepted a £3.5million bid from an unnamed Qatari club for Tom Rogic.

Plagued by niggling injuries and the loss of his Midas touch, the Aussie looked certain to be out the door after eight years.

Fast forward 12 months and the collapse of that deal has proved to be a blessing.

Without exaggeration, his resurgence under compatriot Ange Postecoglou could be every bit as important to this Hoops side as any of the new faces brought in the door.

And after a year of being on the fringes of the starting XI, Celtic are looking a far more potent force for it.

There’s no magic to the 28-year-old’s revival.

The small Scottish Press corps that made the trip to cover the preseason camp in Newport got an early insight into Rogic’s reincarnation.

A 20-minute glimpse of Postecoglou, John Kennedy and Stephen McManus leading smallsided games at the end of their session was a good watch.

But what caught the eye was unfolding on the other side of the Dragon Park pitch, where Rogic was being put through his paces by the Hoops’ fitness coaches.

Just the player, loads of balls, a series of small goals to find his passing range and a huge area set out with cones to make sure he kept on the move for the full session – run, turn, pass, repeat.

Being on the move for 20 minutes is tough.

Doing it with a ball and finding your target time after time, that is exhausting.

You could see in that moment the focus was back for Rogic. And to read soon after he had shed 16lbs in the summer came as no surprise.

Much like Odsonne Edouard, here is a player who has been bracketed as lazy at times due to his languid style.

But Rogic looks to be enjoying his football again, which spells danger for opponents.

Finding a system where he and David Turnbull can fit into the midfield without leaving Celtic exposed to the counter has been a masterstroke by the new boss. Indeed, it’s been key to the transformation in attack that has seen his side hammer home 24 goals in six games. Assists

He looks to be enjoying his football again and that spells danger for opponents

against Hearts and Alkmaar, coupled with a trademark goal against Dundee where he timed his run into the box to perfection, are proof Rogic is back.

At 28, the midfielder should be a player coming into his prime.

A massive doubleheader against Alkmaar then Rangers could well be a gauge of how far he and this side have come in just three months under Postecoglou.

The collapse of his move to Qatar may have cost Celtic £3.5m.

But that’s looking more and more likely to be as good a price as the millions shelled out on Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada as Rogic once again finds his mojo.