FORREST IS NOW THE OLD BHOY WITH A NEW OUTLOOK
Celtic winger has matured with age and revelled in that Brussels triumph
AS A veteran of Celtic’s first-ever Champions League away win, James Forrest was reminded of an injustice as he basked in the glow of helping achieve only a second road success in the group stage. ‘I’m still claiming that I scored against Spartak Moscow that night — even though UEFA said it was an own goal,’ said a grinning Forrest.
Brendan Rodgers implored his players on day one at Celtic that, while lots of people would tell them what they could not do, they had to reach out and grab their own slices of history.
Perhaps Forrest’s gripe, on the night following the decisive 3-0 win over Anderlecht in Brussels — another Rodgers milestone — encapsulates just how fiercely that desire for breaking records and recognising achievements now smoulders within Celtic ranks.
They tend to matter more with age and Forrest acknowledges that the appreciation for what he is accomplishing with Celtic has been a slow-burner within him.
Eight seasons, 11 major honours, including a Treble and status as an Invincible is heady stuff for Forrest to take in at the age of 26, particularly when he considers that he may only be approaching his best years in green and white hoops.
‘I made my 250th appearance for the club recently and it’s only when you look back, you see that in itself is a great achievement,’ added the winger. ‘When you are young, you don’t think about milestones. You kind of take it for granted.
‘Then you get older and more experienced and realise it’s a lot of games. I want to keep racking up the appearances. I’ve been around the first team since I was 18 and I’m 26 now. It has gone in quickly.
‘I now see myself as one of the older boys. We played Kilmarnock recently and I was the second-oldest outfield player.’
A third positive group phase away result in a row schemed by Rodgers — following draws at Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City — allowed Forrest and company to sample the novelty of keeping a clean sheet away from home in the tournament.
The come-from-behind 3-2 win in Moscow under Neil Lennon in October 2012 previously stood out alone as the only source of Champions League victory cheer for Forrest, who has endured a few long travels home from fruitless missions in qualifiers and Europa League trips over his years.
Two months after finishing bottom, four points adrift, in their Europa League section under Ronny Deila in 2015, Forrest declined the offer of a new four-year contract and appeared to be paving the way to leave the club he had been connected to since the age of nine.
A few weeks working with Rodgers last summer soon altered that situation and the journey since has vindicated the player’s decision to sign a new deal last August.
‘I was not considering leaving the club, that wasn’t an option for me,’ explained Forrest. ‘I had six months left on my contract but I always stated that I wanted to stay at Celtic. That all got sorted after the new manager came in and I haven’t looked back.
‘It’s a great place to be right now. Everyone’s confidence is high. It doesn’t get much better than going away in the Champions League and winning. Since the manager has come in, you can see how far we have progressed and how confident we are.
‘To go to Belgium, score three goals and get three points was a great performance. We proved last year that we could do well away from home in Europe. I played the last time we won away in the group stages against Spartak Moscow.
‘That was a great night and Anderlecht was another one. It’s right up there with the best results I’ve been involved in.’
Mikael Lustig is another Celtic player, along with Forrest and Scott Brown, who can say: ‘I was there’ in
I made my 250th appearance for the club recently and I see that in itself as a great achievement
Moscow and Brussels, and he believes his club can be most satisfied with the reaction to taking such a heavy loss on the opening night. The Swede (right) will not forget some of the scorn heaped on Celtic for losing 5-0 to Paris Saint-Germain, the most expensive team ever assembled to play in the Champions League.
‘The first one was always special for me and Spartak Moscow were a better team than Anderlecht too,’ noted Lustig. ‘But to do it 3-0, after losing 5-0 at home and everyone laughing at us, was fantastic. ‘It’s not against PSG where we will take points, it’s games like Anderlecht. ‘We have to face two monsters in Bayern Munich and PSG, so that was always going to be tough. But, hopefully, we can get points against Bayern.’