Forget Johnston: £19k-p/w Celtic passenger may have blown his final chance under Ange - opinion

While Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side ultimately sealed their place in the Scottish Cup quarter-final with a 4-0 win over Raith Rovers on Sunday afternoon, in truth, the final scoreline rather flattered the Bhoys.

With the 56-year-old Hoops boss having made seven changes to the side that defeated Aberdeen in midweek, Celtic required a spectacular strike from left-back Liam Scales to break the deadlock midway through the first half, before Giorgos Giakoumakis, Daizen Maeda and Nir Bitton all added goals after the hour mark – despite the Bhoys’ lacklustre display.

Indeed, speaking after the fixture, Postecoglou said of his side’s performance: “I think the urgency wasn’t quite there. It’s not about singling out individuals. We have an intent and ambition to be a certain kind of team, training is intense, so gameday we are intense no matter who starts.”

And, while the Greek-Australian coach may not have wanted to comment on the individual performances of a number of his side, it was clear for all to see that both of Celtic’s starting wingers, Mikey Johnston and James Forrest, were miles off the pace on Sunday – something that will be extremely concerning for the 56-year-old manager, especially considering the duo were up against a Rovers side who currently occupy fourth place in the Scottish Championship table.

Indeed, with summer signing Liel Abada taking to life in Scotland like a duck to water, with the 20-year-old Israel international having already bagged 14 goals and registered 11 assists over 40 appearances for the Hoops, Forrest already looks to be Postecoglou’s second-choice on the right-hand side of the Celtic front three.

And, while it is true that a series of niggling injuries have limited the number of minutes