Olivier Ntcham proved his hunger for Celtic this week.
You could forgive Olivier Ntcham if he was disappointed with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers before being named in the first XI at Anderlecht this week.
The French midfielder was an unused substitute in both of Celtic’s last two Premiership outings – including the 2-0 win over Rangers, a game he’d have been looking forward to since joining in a £4.5 million move from Manchester City.
Both snubs came on the back of a horrendous showing in the 5-0 demolition by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League two weeks ago.
But Rodgers restored him to the first XI in Wednesday’s 3-0 win away to the Belgian outfit and Ntcham shelved any sense of disappointment by posting a fine display.
He was worryingly sloppy early doors, but a superb pre-assist for Leigh Griffiths’s opener, combined with an exceptional second-half display, means he certainly atoned for his performance against the French outfit earlier this month and sent a message to the Northern Irishman in the process.
And that’s the kind of mentality which will delight the Celtic manager.
Ntcham was given a kick up the you know what by being dropped in back-to-back Premiership matches, but he responded in the way you would expect such a big-money signing to respond.
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