Sean McArdle continued to show his potential with a highly impressive cameo as Celtic swept aside Aberdeen 5-1 at Pittodrie.
The 17-year-old midfielder, who had also featured from the bench at the weekend, looked right at home once again despite his tender years.
Thrown on for the closing stages of the match, McArdle immediately caught the eye with his terrific touch, calmness on the ball, and sharp awareness. His composure belied his inexperience as he slotted comfortably into the midfield, playing with the confidence of a seasoned professional.
Celtic were already comfortably ahead when McArdle entered the fray, but he took full advantage of the opportunity. The teenager linked up well with his teammates, producing a series of smart one-touch passes that kept Celtic ticking over in the latter stages.
He even came close to capping the night with a goal of his own. McArdle forced a decent save from Aberdeen keeper Dimitar Mitov, a moment which would have rounded off what was already an extremely encouraging showing.
The midfielder has quietly impressed in the background at Lennoxtown and looks to have earned the trust of Brendan Rodgers, who has spoken about the need for young players to earn their place in the squad. McArdle’s assured displays in the past two matches suggest he is well on the way to doing just that.
With Celtic already crowned champions and one more league game to play against St Mirren on Saturday, McArdle could well feature again before the Hoops turn their full focus to the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden.
Young McArdle played with so much composure! He has an elegance about his stride. He strokes the ball around like a seasoned veteran. His range of passes is very good also. This is a kid with huge potential! I hope, unlike Daniel Kelly, Rocco Vata and it now looks like Daniel Cummings, he doesn’t throw away a great opportunity to benefit the greed of agents who are only looking out for number one!
Daniel Kelly in particular could have been a regular in our match day squad this season. What a waste of great potential!
As for Vata! His was a cross between being greedy and dumb! Listening to bad advice means these kids will almost certainly never play for bigger clubs again in their careers!
I hope Sean is more grounded.
This isn’t on the club! So the negative vultures can think again! These things are in the hands og greedy kids, agents and sometimes even parents!