I read an article from Born Celtic just the other day about a narrative building at Celtic Park amongst the fans on Twitter that Mikey Johnson seems to be now being made a scapegoat at Celtic.
The fans do like a whipping boy and not so long ago it was James Forrest and to a certain extent, Anthony Ralston was another one.
But this time it seems to be on the shoulders of young Hoops winger, Mikey Johnson. Although for the life of me I don’t know why.
Johnson has just returned from long term injury and before then, he hardly ever got a run of games in the team to warrant such seeming disdain from the Celtic fans.
However, it seems Johnson has that mantle and for a time it seemed like it was just on social media.
But, frustratingly, this narrative has now made the airwaves as a Celtic fan called Clyde 1 Superscoreboard urging the club to make a drastic decision on the boy, “See wee Mikey Johnson, I think the boy has got hundreds of ability. But I think he’s one of they guys that can’t play for Celtic or Rangers.
“I think Celtic should get rid of him if they get a chance. This wee guy just doesn’t seem to do it for me. He just doesn’t seem to be able to unlock defences when we most need him.”
Pundit, Gordon Dalziel, was stunned at the call as he thought the caller was on to PRAISE the Celtic winger, “I wasn’t expecting that to be honest with you. I thought you were going got to go the other way with Mikey Johnson.
“I think they could Johnson as a very talented player. Unfortunately for the boy, I think he’s lost a lot of football through injuries.
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“And I don’t think Celtic will be in a rush to get rid of him. I think he’s got to be given the opportunity. I think he needs to get back over his injury.
“I do think he’s got a lot of ability. I really do.
“It’s whether he can hold down a first team place that will get them the consistency of games to show what he can do.
“He is just back from injuries, getting used off the bench.
“He started last week as well. I would persevere I wouldn’t be too quick just to put him out the door and say, ‘”ell you’re not good enough to play for Celtic’.
“I think the boy deserves a chance. He has been at the club a long time. They think very highly of him.
“He has had these injuries and I do think he deserves a bit of time.”
It really is quite baffling where this comes from and how some fans can make such a sweeping judgement after one poor result.
After all, Johnson was being praised for his performance against Hibs on Wednesday night so why the drastic change?
For context, Jota had a poor game on Saturday as well, do we want him shoved out the door or is it just the Scottish academy guys that are easy game?