James Forrest has shared how he really felt about being subbed off for Celtic against Aberdeen yesterday after being brought on as a second-half substitute himself.
The legendary Celtic winger replacedHyunjun Yang at Hampden as Celtic toiled to get past a dogged Aberdeen side.
Going behind to an early Bojan Miovski goal set the tone for the day for Celtic but as the scoreline sat at 1-1, Forrest was brought on to replace Yang and he made an instant impact.
Scoring in the 63rd minute, it looked like Forrest had tied up the game and sent Celtic to the final. And as Brendan Rodgers looked to see the final minutes out, the Celtic manager took him off for Maik Nawrocki.
That plan didn’t work out and we all know what happened next as Celtic eventually went through on penalties.
James Forrest’s classy response to ‘frustration’ Celtic question
Speaking post-match, Forrest was asked if the feeling of the win was mixed with frustration after being taken off at the last minute for a tactical switch. The Celtic winger’s reply was first-class.
Forrest said [Premier Sports], “No I think everyone understands throughout the season the team has changed so much. People have started, come off.
“People have come out of squads, come back in. And I think that if you don’t have a good group then that can go against you.
“But I think we have got a lot of good players here and we’ve got a good mentality as you saw, we all dig in, we made all the subs and we managed to get through.”
For me, I believe Rodgers took the decision to take off Forrest is because the winger understands what it takes to get a result for Celtic.
Celtic’s progression in the tournament is much bigger than any one player and Forrest knows that. So being subbed off to get a result after being brought on as one wouldn’t faze him.
No tantrums, no offence taken. Just an understanding that getting a result for the team is all that matters.
Celtic now have another Hampden date with destiny on the 25th of May and will find out who they will face in the Scottish Cup Final today after Hearts face Rangers.