John Collins has claimed that Odsonne Edouard wasn’t motivated from the start of this season.
With two years left on his contract there was speculation that the striker would be moved on during the summer but with the transfer market supressed in the middle of Lockdown there were no concrete offers of interest.
Most clubs opted for caution in the summer, sticking with what they had with Celtic going along with that policy.
Prior to last season being suspended Edouard had looked close to his best- reunited with Leigh Griffiths after the winter break he scored 11 goals in 13 matches as Celtic clinched the SPFL title and reached the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.
This season more than his partnership with Griffiths has been missing with Collins spelling it out on Radio Scotland what has gone wrong with the French striker:
Edouard, he wanted to go in the summer. Anyone who watched Celtic at the start of the season will have seen a player that was not motivated, was not sprinting and pressing down centre-halves and full-backs. The recruitment’s not been good enough.
This season Edouard’s class and ability has been available in limited doses but there has been mitigating circumstances.
Soon after scoring a hat-trick on the opening day of the season he was the victim of a brutal attack from Mark Connolly of Dundee United that ruled him out of the Champions League qualifier against Ferencvaros.
Is Collins right, has Edouard underperformed this season?
Yes, he has been a shadow of himself
No, he hasn't had the support play he needs
With goals away to Sparta Prague and AC Milan there have been hints at the ability of last season while his Scottish Cup Final penalty will long be remembered by more than Neil McCann.
Two spells of self-isolation during the season haven’t helped including one in October after returning a positive test while on international duty with the French u-21 side.