TALKING CELTIC
EVEN in New York, Scott Sinclair couldn’t quite get away from it all. “In Central Park a Celtic fan came up and said he’d watched the last game,” smiled the Englishman. “It’s quite funny when you go to a place such as New York, and across the world, and you see Celtic fans.”
Wherever Sinclair went, he would have received a hero’s welcome after a campaign in which he swept the board in terms of personal accolades.
Able to reflect on an historic campaign that saw Celtic not only claim a Treble but go through the domestic season unbeaten, this summer has been more notable than most for Sinclair. There is no doubt this year about the direction his career is taking, a welcome respite from recent campaigns that brought only anxiety.
Sinclair may have had a shorter time in the sun than he would have liked before reporting back to Celtic Park on Monday for pre-season training but the winger knows where he is going under Brendan Rodgers.
“I’m so relaxed now,” he said. “I’ve had a nice break with my family and have come back ready to go again. I want to have a better season than the last one.
“Over the last few years, every summer I wasn’t too sure what was going to be happening, whether I would be leaving and going somewhere else. So it’s great to have a summer just to enjoy it and not worry about anything.
“This is the first time I’ve only had three weeks. But we also get the winter break so it’s all right. That helps break things up during the season.”
IF THERE was one blip in Sinclair’s season it was the lack of i nternational recognition that came after his sustained Celtic performances.
Realistically it might seem that Sinclair’s aspirations amount to little more than a long shot given the historic reluctance of the FA to look beyond the border, but the player has admitted that he couldn’t help but think of what might have been as he watched Scotland’s game against England at Hampden from a Majorcan bar.
“As a professional you’re always judging each other and picking things out about whether you’re better or not than those playing,” he said.
“There’s always going to be speculation about England. I still want to play for my country, I’m still ambitious. But things like that are out of my control.
“All I can control is what I do on the field every Saturday. So I’ll just concentrate on trying to do well for Celtic and see what happens.
“All I can do is try to continue what I showed last season. The Champions League will help but it might not decide whether I get called up or not.”
With plenty of familiar faces on view at Hampden as Scott Brown, Leigh Griffiths, Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney and Stuart Armstrong all started the game, Sinclair admitted to feeling some ambiguity when watching the game.
“It was a weird one,” he smiled. “You want your mates to do well but I’m English. How did I feel when Griff got his second? I can’t really answer that! He’ll be buzzing after that and it would have been great to have seen him the next day after that. I thought he would score them both. He’s got an amazing free-kick delivery.”
So far Jonny Hayes is the only new addition to Rodgers’ squad. The Republic of Ireland internationalist has been seen, perhaps unfairly, as something