January Gems - Tom Rogic.

Scottish fitba has been blessed with an influx of Antipodean players over the years, ranging from ‘no bad’ to ‘great’ in the talent scale. When it comes to Celtic, our notable Australians were strikers, in Mark Viduka and Scott McDonald, who made a big impact for the club. Jackson Irvine was never given a chance by Neil Lennon or Ronny Deila, and is how proving himself to be a real case of the one that got away, judging by his accolades down in England.

There was a serious chance that Tom Rogic could have fallen into this category.

After signing in January 2013 from Central Coast Mariners, all signs pointed to this being another ‘project’ acquisition and after a horrifically bad transfer window in the summer of 2012, the thought of signing a guy to be developed down the line instead of coming in to bolster a team in autopilot that season drew one almighty groan from the support.

Indeed, despite a promising debut against Inverness, where he set up a goal for Kris Commons in a 3-1 win, he was used very sparingly for the rest of the campaign, and the following season he made even less appearances, before being loaned back to AUSSIE CRACKS Melbourne Victory, where he was troubled by constant niggling injuries, causing him to miss the FIFA 2014 World Cup, although, like me and you, he was thankfully still able to watch the game on the TV with a bevvy, and enjoying that ITV Brazil Brazil theme like many of us!

The Rogic Redemption would take place in the summer of 2015, when it seemed that many had written him off, and he marked his first start for the club in two years with a fantastic goal at Firhill and never looked back domestically, chipping in with more vital strikes that season including a screamer at Kilmarnock on the day that we effectively sealed the title after Aberdeen went onto drop points at Fir Park.

Rogic would improve his game even further under new manager Brendan Rodgers, and his twelve goals in all competitions, including the one to seal the invincible treble, would be enough to ensure that the Nike Football Academy Winner is undoubtedly a TJDS BLOG JANUARY GEM!