You need to do more to be a LEGEND like these
PACKIE BONNER has demanded Moussa Dembele do more than become a footnote in the history of Celtic’s fabled frontmen.
The former keeper was raised on the exploits of Jimmy McGrory, Stevie Chalmers and Kenny Dalglish and played with Frank McGarvey, Frank McAvennie and Charlie Nicholas. In recent years he has watched from the sidelines as strikers such as Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton and John Hartson have made their mark with a new generation of Celtic supporters.
Bonner is astonished no Celtic player has scored more than nine goals in the Premiership this season as the Hoops zone in on historic back-to-back trebles.
Leigh Griffiths has suffered an injury-hit campaign but it’s the form and attitude of French Under-21 striker Dembele in particular that’s perplexing the Irish icon more than any other Parkhead performer. The ex-Fulham kid rattled 32 goals in his debut season last year, including 17 in the Premiership. This time around he has netted 14 in total, including just eight in league matches.
Bonner would not be surprised if Dembele reminds Hoops fans of his worth in Sunday’s Scottish Cup semifinal against Rangers. But he has called on him to find the net more often if he’s to really leave his mark on the club.
He said: “Celtic have more firepower in their team and can score goals from all positions, which is proved by the fact their top scorer in the league this season has only nine goals.
“I find that statistic hard to believe, especially since they’ll win the title by a handsome margin again. I don’t think that’s happened before in a championship winning Celtic team.
“When I played Nicholas and McGarvey had a competition between them to see who would be the first to hit 30. “Keepers and defenders at Celtic, the guys who break up the play and stop the other team scoring, are never the ones fans talk about in the future. “It’s the creative players who get the plaudits but you need to perform every week to be elevated to that status, scoring against the wee teams and the medium teams as well as in the big games. “If you do that for three or four years you’ll be recognised as a brilliant striker and that’s
Dembele is a young man with brilliant attributes but has to do it more often PACKIE BONNER