TALE OF SORO ONLY MADE ME STRONGER
ISMAILA SORO has been in Scotland long enough to know the score. As the heir apparent to Scott Brown’s place in the Celtic team, the Ivorian has especially big boots to fill but he has not come this far to shirk a challenge. Still only 22, Soro’s career is already storied, sweeping from his African home to Glasgow via Moldova, Belarus and Israel.
Each transfer has brought its challenges but none quite so constraining as his enforced isolation last summer.
A £2million signing from Israeli side Bnei Yehuda last January, he hadn’t played a minute of first-team football by the time Covid forced the game into cold storage in March.
While then manager Neil Lennon afforded his title-winning squad’s foreign contingent the option of returning to their homelands during lockdown, Soro remained.
He said: ‘I stayed in Scotland through the whole Covid lockdown. That was tough, of course, but I think I have a strong mentality. By the time I came here, I had already played in three different countries, so I have learned to adapt.
‘The hardest situation I have faced was probably here during Covid because nobody could go
‘I’ve played in three different countries but lockdown in Scotland was the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with’
anywhere. It was really hard to cope with those circumstances.
‘If you’re talking about the country, Belarus was probably the hardest for me but the Covid situation made everything difficult.
‘(Vakoun) Bayo was the one who helped me most during those first months.
‘We are both Ivorian and he was the one who was closest to me when I arrived and helped me settle.
‘Obviously, he has since left, but Odsonne Edouard and Christopher Jullien have also been very good to me. Having these guys around has been a real help to me.
‘The key thing for me is that when I go on to the pitch I have the same approach. At all times my priority is to work hard. It’s no different whether I am playing in Belarus, Israel or Scotland.’
Small in stature yet big of heart, Soro’s determination to succeed meant he was ready to step in when Brown’s form nose-dived last autumn.
Handed a debut as a late substitute in a win at Ross County in September, Soro made a real splash in a Europa League group win over Lille in December, a game in which he and
David Turnbull shone as part of a midfield diamond.
Although Brown was recalled to captain the team in the Scottish Cup final and played during John Kennedy’s first game as caretaker against Aberdeen last weekend, Soro has done enough to suggest he will at least have a chance at succeeding the 35-year-old club captain in the long term.
Mobile, combative and economical in his distribution, Soro shares some of Brown’s qualities but defers to the stature of the man he is being groomed to replace.
‘It’s a very tough job to step into Scott’s shoes,’ he continued. ‘First of all, the captain is a really great player who I respect a lot.
‘To be at such a big team for such a long time as captain says a lot about him. And it’s not just about the job he does on the pitch, it’s everything else. He is such an important figure at this club.
‘Being the one who has to try and do the same job on the pitch is a big challenge.’
Last weekend there was the rare sight of Brown and Soro competing on the pitch at the same time as Kennedy sent on the latter to help see out a 1-0 win.
Yet that lead could have been doubled had Edouard acted upon Soro’s overlapping run instead of attempting to dribble his way to goal in the closing stages.
Soro remonstrated with his friend afterwards, frustrated at not adding to the solitary Celtic goal he scored against today’s opponents Dundee United in December.
He explained: ‘I was in a good position to score when Odsonne had the ball, so yes, I asked him at the end. Initially, I wasn’t happy that he had not passed to me but I also understand that he is an attacking player. The most important thing was that we won the game.’
Although it took a while for Lennon to find a place for Soro in his team, the player speaks of a debt to the departed manager.
The pressures of attaining a 10th successive title may have consumed Lennon but Soro will always be grateful for the platform provided by the Northern Irishman. ‘When I arrived at Celtic he helped me, he taught me and, finally, he played me! I’m thankful for all of that,’ said Soro.
‘John Kennedy is someone who speaks to me a lot. He is someone who has given me a lot of good advice since I came to Celtic.
‘That was important. Even when I was not playing, the fact he would take time to speak to me was actually very important.’
Signed in the same window as Patryk Klimala, Soro seemed to have been written off before making his pre-Christmas breakthrough.
Yet Kennedy, who made the surprise decision to start £3m striker Klimala in the Aberdeen game last weekend, insists an adaptation period was always going to be required for the young midfielder.
He said: ‘We’ve been delighted with Ismaila.
‘In terms of where he came in from, it was a massive cultural change, he didn’t speak the language and it took time for him to get up to speed, to really get to grips with what we wanted. We knew what he was capable of but in that first period he wasn’t quite reaching that level. Through time and that belief in what he was doing he’s come through and done very well.’
Just as there is a question mark over Kennedy’s future beyond the end of the season, so Brown is drifting towards the end of his current contract.
A one-year extension could yet be tabled, while there has also been talk of a move on to the coaching staff.
In the meantime, Kennedy will continue to utilise both he and Soro. The younger man will be urged to watch and learn.
‘In terms of inspiration and example, there is no better player than Scott Brown,’ said the interim manager.
‘Soro can certainly learn from that. Scott’s not getting any younger and he knows that. Long term, Soro is one we hold in high esteem and we hope he is here for a long time.’