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James Forrest

Discussion in 'Celtic Chat' started by Drakhan, Jul 25, 2015.

Discuss James Forrest in the Celtic Chat area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    Hands down over 100 goals.

    And a * of a lot of appearances.
     
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  2. Keano88

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    Injury or rested?
     
  3. CookieMonster Geez yer cookies Gold Member

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    Surely injured, if he’s rested him for this game but played everyone else there was * all point.
     
  4. Keano88

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    Aye, the fact that Lennon was annoyed at the Sky reporter for asking where Forrest and KT were during the press conference midweek makes it seem like he didn’t want to let anyone know.
     
  5. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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  6. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    James Forrest has handed Celtic a huge Hampden boost by insisting he’ll be ready for the Scottish Cup Final.

    Forrest, who scooped the SFWA International Player of the Year award last night, underwent scans on a hamstring injury and was forced to sit out last weekend’s Old Firm loss to Rangers.

    However, the attacker is confident he won’t miss the big one at the National Stadium on Saturday week and says he could even be available for trophy day when Craig Levein’s troops head to Parkhead on Sunday for the season’s final Premiership game.


    He said: “I’ve not really spoken to the medical staff yet but I should be fine for the Final.

    “It’s still early and I’m taking it day by day. We have the final Premiership game against Hearts on Sunday, so I’m not ruling out being involved in that.

    My hamstring was just a little tight after the title win at Aberdeen so the manager didn’t want to risk it or push me and we’ll see what happens in the next few days. Like I say I’m not giving up hope on playing this weekend.

    When you play so many games it’s only natural you’re going to feel aches and pains but we have a great staff here
    and they help you to look after yourself.


    Forrest, meanwhile, says it’s business as usual despite defeat at Ibrox.

    Gers reacted gleefully to their Old Firm win with skipper James Tavernier tweeting “Glasgow is Blue” after the win.

    But Forrest says Celtic aren’t concerned about outside activities.

    He said: “That’s up to them. There’s no masking the fact they were the better team and we admitted that but what they say doesn’t impact us. We’re just looking forward to our last two games.

    “It’s clearly not a good thing when you lose an Old Firm game but, after the defeat in December, we went on a great run.

    “It’s not nice for the club or players to go through that but the consistency we’ve shown in the last few years has been evident. It takes a lot to do that.
     
  7. Keano88

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    Didn’t know he won the Writers POTY as well.

    Well deserved again.
     
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  8. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    THERE are no Instagram posts of his flash car or boasts about a new sponsorship deal.

    No Twitter. No Facebook posts from five years ago which if brought up would show him in a bad light.No falling out of nightclubs just when someone has their mobile phone to hand so they can film the incident.

    James Forrest does go out, probably. He might be into golf like most players. Maybe it’s ten-pin bowling or pottery. We will never know because the Celticman goes about his business making sure that belong to nobody else.


    Voted PFA Scotland Player of the Year this month, yesterday he picked up another individual gong from the Scottish Football Writers Association for best international player. There was really no other choice.

    In total, this 27-year-old has scored 17 goals and has 20 assists. It’s been a remarkable two years for a winger whose mantelpiece would need to stand on girders for it to cope with the weight of all his trophies.

    But Jamsie is the same as he always was. Still a bit shy, awkward even, not one to talk up himself up even if everyone else is happy to do so. Forrest admitted that while other players go on social media and like the limelight, he’s more than happy to leave them to that.

    “I don’t hide but that’s not my thing, which isn’t to say that other lads are wrong to do it,” he said. “Everyone has different personalities but I prefer to stay grounded.

    “Sometimes, if you go over the top, then within days it can come back at you. I deal with the highs and lows in the same way.


    When you first break through, the first-team players and staff would be a bit harsher on young boys to keep you in line and I think I’ve taken that through the years with me; it’s still in my head.

    “If you stepped out of line when I was younger there were older players who’d make sure that that never happened again.

    “There were a lot of big characters around when I first joined the squad, including the current manager. He’s one of those who doesn’t like it when anyone gets ahead of themselves.”



    Who wouldn’t want a player like that? The young Forrest was inconsistent and always, it seemed, to be nursing an injury or just coming back from one. What a different animal he is now.

    That’s 52 club games so far this a season with two to go, plus there is Scotland as well. It was 58 the previous season and 46 before that. This sort of footballer is worth a few million of anyone’s money but he’s not hugely interested in moving away.

    “I’ve always felt that to stay with Celtic for my entire career would be unbelievable,” said Forrest. “We’re still a long way away from that happening but I’m really enjoying it and, over the last few years, I’ve discovered that this club is bigger than even I had realised before.

    “Personally, I’m delighted to be here and I’ll keep working hard to ensure that I can stay here. I’ve spoken to more players than you might think who have left here and then wished that they hadn’t.

    “Many would tell you themselves that they didn’t realise what a big club this is until after they’d gone. Of course, some of them moved on to have a different experience and probably wouldn’t change things.

    “There’s no right or wrong when it comes to that but I now know how big Celtic truly is and how successful we can be.”

    Forrest missed out on Ibrox with a tight hamstring but is hopeful of playing against Hearts on Sunday and then there’s the Scottish Cup final and a chance for him to win his 17th medal.




    And to think that he was once a target for criticism, far more than any player, which was a part of him wanting to leave before Brendan Rodgers was appointed.

    “The last couple of seasons have been really enjoyable and I believe that you do play your best football when you’re enjoying it,” said Forrest. “It’s been unbelievable and you don’t really want it to stop; you want to keep going.

    “It also helps when you look back at what you’ve won. Everyone knows, at the start of each new season, that it’s going to be difficult to keep it going but we keep working hard to give ourselves a chance.

    “Maybe the highlight is still to come. Throughout the season I’ve had a lot of highs and it’s a positive that’s there have been so many. I remember when we won the first trophy we won under Rodgers, we had a game three days later so we didn’t get the chance to celebrate it the way some other teams do.

    “But when you’re successful then you do play more matches and, when you get to this stage, it’s all about winning the league and preparing for cup finals.”

    Forrest has become an expert in both. Not that he’ll say that.

    Celtic players will wear numbers five and nine on their shorts at this season’s Scottish Cup final in honour of club legends Billy McNeill and Stevie Chalmers One number will be on the front left of the shorts, while the other will be on the back right, a reflection of the way the Celtic players wore their numbers in the 1960s.
     
  9. 63bruce

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  10. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    JAMES FORREST has come out on top in the SFWA poll for best International Player of the Year.

    The Celtic star, capped 28 times, was pivotal in securing a place for the national team in the UEFA Nations League play-offs.

    On November 17 last year, Forrest scored his first two goals for Scotland in the 4–0 away victory over Albania.

    The three days later, he blasted a hat-trick as Scotland beat Israel 3–2 to qualify for the play-offs.

    He became the first Celtic player to score a hat-trick for Scotland since Jimmy Quinn in 1908, and the first Scotland player to score at least two goals in consecutive matches since Denis Law in 1963.

    These goals have given Scotland the opportunity to still qualify for Euro 2020 if they cannot get out of their qualifying group.

    And there seems little doubt the Parkhead winger will have a huge role to play in the campaign ahead.

    James, of course, is also short-listed along with team-mate Callum McGregor and Rangers pair Allan McGregor and Alfredo Morelos to win the Association’s main award, the Player of the Year.
     
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  11. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    NL: James Forrest won’t be involved at the weekend but should be fit for the cup final.”
     
  12. Metrobhoy

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    What a season he's had! Proved all his doubters wrong. Unlike previous wide players, JF is direct, scores, creates and tracks back. Wish we had 2 of them.
     
  13. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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  14. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    HE’S Scotland’s Player of the Year. A certain starter every week for the team chasing the Treble Treble.

    But James Forrest says he’ll be sticking with a squad number more befitting a wide-eyed youth player than a star man.

    The winger — who’ll pick up his Player of the Year award at the SFWA awards ceremony — has worn number 49 since he started at the club. And that’s the way it will stay.

    He admitted: “When Neil Lennon was manager the first time, he said I could’ve swapped my number. But coming through, that was my number.


    I’d seen players older than me, like Aiden McGeady and Darren O’Dea, always keep the numbers they had and I think that just stuck with me.

    “I’m happy with it and it’s maybe too late to change it now.


    I think Celtic always keep the number seven jersey for big signings.

    “It’d be unbelievable to have it when you think of the people who’ve worn it before.


    “I don’t think you can really go and ask for number seven.

    “If you get offered it that would be different, but I’m happy with 49.”

    Forrest made his Celtic debut against Motherwell nine years ago this month — and admits the possibility of 16-year-old Karamoko Dembele making his first appearance against Hearts is an
    indication that squad development is continuing at the club.


    He said: “I was with the under-19s and we were going for the title. The manager was in his first spell here and he said when that was done — and if it was the right time — he’d get me
    involved.


    So I was buzzing to make my debut. It’s really good for young players but it’s good for first-team players and fans to see there are young players coming through.

    “It’s exciting for everyone and it’d only help the young boys if they got their chance.

    “Dembele and a couple of others have trained with us, fitted in well and not looked out of place. Euan Henderson’s shown a few times he can come in.

    “You look at Armstrong Oko-Flex who’s trained with us and Dembele has been brought into it more in the last few months. It’s exciting to see that happening.”

    Forrest will pick up his own trophy tonight, just days after also winning the PFA Scotland award.

    He said: “It’s a great achievement. It comes out of the team doing well and being a part of that.

    “It’s nice to be recognised, it makes you work harder and keep showing you can do it.

    “It’s good when anyone from the team gets an award — the boys are buzzing when it happens because it shows you’re having a good year.

    “It’s one of these things where when you finish playing you might look back and see it’s a bigger achievement than you view it as right now.


    We won the League Cup before Christmas then the league title but at this club it’s always about the next one. If we don’t win the Scottish Cup it’d be a disappointment.

    “Brendan Rodgers used to say, when you’re winning and being successful you keep wanting more.

    The only thing Forrest isn’t eager about tonight is making an award speech.

    He said: “I’ll be keeping it short and sharp. I won’t be trying any jokes in case they fall flat.

    “I’ll just be thanking everyone. If you’ve any tips, let me know
     
  15. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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  16. Keano88

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    Cleaning up the domestic awards, rightly so.

    Well deserved Jamesy bhoy :shamrock:
     
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  17. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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  18. Keano88

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    Scottish Players Player of the Year.
    Scottish Football Writers Player of the Year.
    Scottish International Player of the Year.

    Jamesy loves a treble.
     
  19. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

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    He needs to have a word with himself all wrapped up today like it was December. Broony and KT in short sleeves and him looking like he just done a shift in an abbatoir freezer.

    Phenomenal this season though. What a boost if he makes it next week.
     
  20. Sean Daleer Free Palestine Gold Member

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    Me and you Keano always believed mate and with good reason.
     
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