Scott returns to where it all started
SCOTT SINCLAIR is relishing a return to the scene of his whirlwind start to the season.
He arrived at Tynecastle last August, having only met his new Celtic team-mates over breakfast, and scored a dramatic winning goal.
Today, he can leave Edinburgh having secured the first championship medal of his career.
The much-travelled 28-year-old believes it’s no coincidence that he’s never experienced a happier dressing-room.
“We play every game like it’s our first,” he said. “We won’t take setbacks. Even in training, we keep ploughing forward.
“Coming to Celtic has been as good as the manager promised it would be. In fact, I would say more so.
“You have an idea of what you think it is going to be like, but it’s actually been better than that.
“My main priority was just to come here, play and enjoy it.
“Now we can win the league at Tynecastle where it all started for me.
“I remember those first couple of days being very rushed. I didn’t think I was going to be involved. I hadn’t trained with the lads and had no chance to get to know anyone.
“I was straight into it. I had the MRI scans and then went to the hotel. Before I knew it, I was on the bench.
“I was just excited about coming up. I hadn’t been here before and was just looking forward to every minute.
“My first contact with the players was in the morning. We had a walk and then breakfast.”
That sort of rushed introduction can sometimes backfire on a team, but Sinclair came on to score the winner in the 81st minute.
He has gone on to score 18 times this term, and getting a Premiership gong will be very significant for him.
“I always talk about the battles I’ve needed to go through, so it’s great to get your rewards at the end of it all, said Sinclair.
“I was involved in getting relegated at Aston Villa, going to Manchester City and not playing for two years.
“I’m quite proud of myself that I keep battling and wanting to do well and be the best I can be.
“It just goes to show that the hard work actually pays off.”
Kieran Tierney and Moussa Dembele are just two of the talents in the sights of football’s big guns
It seems likely megabucks bids will be made for both youngsters during the summer, and their combined value has been speculated as north of £50-million.
Both Liverpool and Manchester United have been linked with the pair.
They are under contract but it’s a safe bet there will be an amicable parting of the ways as the footballers will outgrow the SPFL Premiership and want to test themselves at the highest level down south.
When that day will be, nobody can tell with any degree of certainty.
But Lou Macari has no doubts it will be a different scenario from the one he faced 44 years ago.
When he decided not to sign a new contract with Celtic in 1973, he didn’t have a great deal of say in where his next destination would be.
Jock Stein was in control of that situation.