Tom Rogic and the “impossible” quality that leaves Celtic team-mate agog

As much as Celtic supporters may have appreciated their team’s 4-0 midweek success away to St MIrren, they will have felt exasperated by a central element of it.

David Turnbull rates Celtic team-mate Tom Rogic "one of the best players" he has played with or against. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

A first league goal in 11 months from Tom Rogic topped off a display wherein his playmaking excellence recalled the 28-year-old Australian at his very best. In an impoverished campaign for Neil Lennon’s men that has undone hopes of a 10th straight title, there have been few such displays among Rogic’s 12 starts.

He has played well on more occasions than tends to be recalled by those who want to pursue a negative narrative over the attacker - the Scottish Cup semi-final success over Aberdeen one such outing. However, he hasn’t regularly been the game-changing ‘magic man’ of both Brendan Rodgers’ opening 18 months, and the closing stages of the Covid-19 abridged nine-in-a-row triumph last year.

Team-mate David Turnbull, likely to line-up alongside Rogic in Celtic’s creative hub away to St Johnstone on Sunday, gushes over Rogic’s abilities. Yet, what he has to say about the accomplished international he faced in claret in amber before his £3.5m summer move, and now confronts at Lennoxtown daily, will only induce angst among Celtic followers assessing the diffident performer’s impact on this campaign.

“When I was up against Tom with Motherwell I always felt it was impossible to get the ball off him, “ said the 21-year-old. “He’s just so strong, he can hold the ball up and hold you off as well. There’s so many good touches – it’s just hard to get the ball off him. It was like that against him, but he’s the same in training. He keeps himself to himself but there’s a bit of banter there. He’s such a chilled out guy.

“He’s right up there with the best I’ve played with or against. You see his technical ability when he plays. We’ve been playing together recently and I hope he can continue to show it. He looked very sharp the other night, especially in the second half when we all kind of clicked together. We all showed our ability, but Tom especially.”