“From where I was a year ago, it’s been a rollercoaster,” Colby Donovan
Colby Donovan throughly deserving of his new deal, he should now be aiming to make the right back berth his own...
Young Colby Donovan’s impressive start to the season has seen him rewarded with a new contact extension.
The 20 year old who was also recently called up to the Scottish national squad has been handed an improved new five year deal that ties him to the club until 2031.
“As soon as I heard about it, I just wanted to get it done”
The Celtic Academy graduate hails from Irvine was delighted to extend his stay at the club he supports passionately. “As soon as I heard about it, I just wanted to get it done and just seal my future here,” he said at his media conference yesterday afternoon ahead of this evening’s Premiership clash with an inform Dundee United at Celtic Park.
“It was quite hard to get my head around it at the time. From where I was a year ago, it’s been a rollercoaster. I’ve had two trophies from the time that I’ve been with the first team and I just want to keep going.
“I want to keep kicking on and hopefully I’ll keep playing more games for Celtic.”
That’s the main challenge now for Colby, to keep kicking on and improve, and not just to be seen as a back up player, but to make the right back berth his own.
Colby Donovan can make right back spot his own for club and country
As good as AJ has been for the club, a combination of uncertainty over his future at the club, and ongoing questions over his overall fitness, he’s not exactly been someone Martin O’Neill has been able to rely on at this season and of course much of last season too.
Young Colby has now got to push on and force the manager into a major dilemma when AJ overcomes his latest injury setback, which should be after the November international break (yes, that’s right there’s another one on the horizon!).
Colby’s done a more than decent job thus far, and playing regularly has benefited him greatly, but he’s also got scope for improvement, something he’s got to show in the coming weeks and months.
Colby following in footsteps of Jamesy, Calmac and KT
If Colby wants to become a first team regular, this is the perfect opportunity for him to do just that. He won’t get a better chance and he is fully equipped to be a player who follows in the footsteps of James Forrest, Callum McGregor and his great pal Kieran Tierney in coming through the Academy to go on to be a long term Celtic stalwart.
Martin O’Neill was asked about Colby Donovan at his own media conference yesterday afternoon. Asked about Colby committing his long-term future to the club the Celtic manager said: “Well, delighted, delighted for him. I mean, when I arrived here, first of all, he was, you know, sharing that position at the time. Obviously, Alistair was out with the injury and he’s shown a great determination, really great determination. Yeah, he’s done super, really, really super.”
And Martin also outlined his thoughts on how he has watched Colby develop over the past year.
“I think that, for instance, he played in that game against Hearts, which was just about this time last year. The Hearts players, I think they were taking him on and Colby just kept getting beaten, retreating very, very quickly and not making any challenges before they entered the penalty box. Now he’s coming out, he’s really determined, he’s closing players down more quickly. I thought he dealt with a very, very good Hearts player last Sunday. Josh McPake is flying at this minute, so Colby has gone and done that.
“And he’s done well enough to get himself in the Scottish squad, so that’s nice. I know he didn’t participate at all in it, but it’s just signs of his development. It’s just really the technical side of things that I think he’s improved on. And I think he can continue to improve.”
Colby came off at the weekend at Easter Road after suffering a knock but he confirmed that he is absolutely fine, and available for selection this evening. That’s one definite for the team sheet…
