Scottish Premiership champions Celtic released Theo Archibald and he is finally starting to fulfil his potential at League Two Macclesfield Town.
Celtic might have the most prosperous academy system in Scotland but, for every James Forrest and Kieran Tierney, there is a Darnell Fisher or a Stephen O’Donnell.
It is sometimes impossible to predict how a player’s career will go and Celtic have certainly made their fair share of mistakes at youth level. Eamonn Brophy was never given a chance at Parkhead but he’s now one of the most influential forwards in Scotland at Kilmarnock while his Rugby Park teammate O’Donnell continues to be linked with an emotional return to the green half of Glasgow (Daily Record).
Then there is Liam Henderson, soon to be playing Serie A football with Hellas Verona, highly-rated Preston defender Fisher and former Hibernian talisman Dylan McGeouch.
And just three league games into the 2019/20 season, Theo Arhibald is making a fine case to become another ‘one-that-got-away’.
A Glasgow-born 21-year-old, Celtic released the wily winger in the summer of 2017 despite his role in the Hoops’ SPFL Development League title success. Two years later, via spells at Brentford and Forest Green, he is showing tantalising signs of real star quality again at Macclesfield Town.
Archibald opened his account for Macclesfield with a long-range stunner in a 3-0 thrashing of Leyton Orient. And, as the Silkmen beat Northampton 2-1 on Saturday, it was the 21-year-old’s fittingly silky display that made the difference.
Arhibald set up the opener and scored the winner, curling a perfectly placed shot into the far corner with all the composure in the world. He looks a cut above in the fourth tier of English football and, with all due respect to Macclesfield, he won’t be playing at Moss Rose forever if these match-winning performances become a weekly event.
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