The enduring utility of James Forrest
In a squad perpetually churning through high-cost, high-expectation transfers, James Forrest has evolved into a persistent anomaly at Celtic. At 35, he remains the club’s most reliable tactical insurance policy. Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against St Mirren provided a clinical demonstration of why his presence in the squad remains vital, despite his transition into a specialist, "bit-part" role.
Forrest’s impact on the 6-2 victory was not defined by the volume of minutes, but by the timing of his intervention. With Celtic reeling from the loss of a 2-0 lead to a St Mirren side that had successfully exploited their tactical lapses, the game was deadlocked at 2-2. Forrest’s re-entry shifted the energy. His delivery for Kelechi Iheanacho’s go-ahead goal was not merely an assist; it was the mechanism that broke the opposition's defensive structure, triggering a rapid-fire collapse of St Mirren’s resolve.
James Forrest set up Kelechi Iheanacho's header as Celtic pulled away from St Mirren
The inefficiency of the revolving door
Forrest’s longevity serves as an implicit critique of Celtic’s recent recruitment strategy in the wide areas. While the club has consistently allocated funds for wingers—players like Sebastian Tounekti, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, Nicolas Kuhn, and Liel Abada have cycled through the squad with varying degrees of impact—few have offered the sustained output that Forrest provides during high-leverage moments.
His statistical profile as a starter is limited—fewer than ten starts in most of the last four seasons—largely due to injury cycles and managerial rotation. Yet, when the personnel tasked with "shining" fail to do so, the system defaults back to the player who has seen it all before. Forrest survives not by being the fastest or the most expensive, but by maintaining a baseline of professional efficiency that his younger, more erratic counterparts struggle to replicate.
Tactical friction and the final hurdle
The semi-final revealed deeper vulnerabilities within Martin O'Neill's current iteration of Celtic. While the eventual 6-2 scoreline suggests a dominant performance, it obscures a significant period of fragility. Celtic’s inability to control the game against a St Mirren side forced to deploy a 17-year-old goalkeeper, Grant Tamosevicius, points to a lack of cohesion. Daizen Maeda’s opening goal, gifted by a tactical error from St Mirren keeper Ryan Mullen, masked a lack of clinical edge from the center-forward position for much of the afternoon.
The reliance on Kelechi Iheanacho to provide the decisive movement in the box indicates that while the squad has talent, it lacks a consistent attacking anchor. Maeda, despite his engine and defensive work-rate, does not profile as a traditional number nine, a reality that O'Neill must reconcile before the final.
Dunfermline Athletic manager Neil Lennon and Celtic counterpart Martin O'Neill will be back at Hampden and in opposing dugouts on 23 May
The narrative arc of the final
The upcoming Scottish Cup final on 23 May represents a convergence of past and present that is rare in the modern game. Martin O’Neill, presiding over what appears to be his final act at Celtic, faces his former captain and protégée, Neil Lennon, now managing Dunfermline Athletic.
Lennon arrives at the final with a record that demands scrutiny; his side’s path to Hampden—which includes clean sheets against Aberdeen, Hibs, and Falkirk—suggests a defensive organization that may present a significant hurdle for Celtic’s attacking lines. If Celtic’s performance against St Mirren is indicative of a wider lack of consistency, the final could prove to be the most demanding tactical exercise of the year. For O’Neill, the challenge lies in deciding whether the stability provided by veterans like Forrest is a luxury or a requirement for a team that has spent too much of this season appearing vulnerable to pressure.
Whether Forrest continues to influence the result from the bench or earns a starting role in the final, his role is already defined. In a season characterized by "plot twists," the consistency of a player who has already secured 26 winners’ medals remains the most reliable variable in an unpredictable equation. The question for the front office is why, years after his peak, the team is still reliant on him to navigate its most difficult passages of play.
Celtic hit St Mirren for six to reach cup final
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