Boyd happy Sinclair has been quick off the mark

THE 119 minutes Scott Sinclair has spent in a Celtic shirt should, in the opinion of Tom Boyd, already be enough to cause a twinge of terror within Premiership defenders.

Sinclair’s electrifying pace seems to have injected a new dimension into the Parkhead side as Brendan Rodgers continues his revamp. Two goals in two games, plus the general havoc the 27-year-old wrought in Wednesday night’s 5-0 dismantling of Motherwell, isn’t a bad start on repaying the £3million-plus fee paid to Aston Villa.

With James Forrest also looking like a player renewed, former captain Boyd feels Celtic are now acquiring the kind of overall dynamism that marked out some their most entertaining sides of the past.

For the club’s top-flight rivals, he believes it will be a case of catch them if you can. In more ways than one.

‘Will Scott get any quicker?’ mused former Scotland defender Boyd, reflecting on the possibility the winger might still be short of maximum match fitness.

‘He’s lightning just now and he’s one of the fastest things I’ve seen since going back to Didier Agathe.

‘Scott looks very sharp and very comfortable, and you’ve seen in a short space of time a huge transformation in a player who struggled last season.

‘He’s playing for a manager who really supports him and is going to bring the best out of him.

‘If this is him short of full fitness then I’m excited about seeing him getting even better.

‘There’s nothing more frightening to a defender than raw pace. Against Motherwell, Scott was ably assisted by quite a few players, too. I thought Tom Rogic was outstanding and young James Forrest has found a new lease of life.

‘It looks as though Brendan has had the same impact on him as he has had on Scott, he has given him confidence and a new contract as well. So things are looking good in terms of the level of performance.’

The eye-pleasing fluency witnessed against Motherwell followed a grittier success at Tynecastle in Celtic’s opening Premiership fixture under Rodgers.

After too many stodgy displays during Ronny Deila’s two-season tenure, Boyd believes Rodgers can recapture some of the swagger seen when the late Tommy Burns was in charge.

‘I would certainly say so,’ continued Boyd, who played under Burns in the mid-1990s.

‘I think Brendan has the players and the key thing is the pace they play at.’

Boyd hopes Rodgers will now deliver £20m into the club’s bank account by navigating their Champions League play-off against Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

And he dismissed a suggestion from Rangers chairman Dave King that Celtic might be in a ‘more awkward’ position than their Old Firm rivals because they had to work out how best to ‘recycle a large expenditure’.

‘But it’s a nice problem, isn’t it?’ responded Boyd. ‘I think Celtic have certainly been very astute in using it so far and I’m sure the team across the city would like to be in that position of having those resources.’

TOM BOYD helped promote An Evening with Pele on September 16 at Crowne Plaza Glasgow. Tickets are available on 01253 590928 and www.seetickets.com. Visit www.peletour2016.co.uk for more details.