The false ‘downed tools’ narrative surrounding Odsonne Edouard

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The Celtic Star

·23 giugno 2025

The false ‘downed tools’ narrative surrounding Odsonne Edouard

Odsonne Edouard is a player who contributed massively to Celtic in his five years in Glasgow boasting an impressive record of 89 goals in 196 appearances…

Odsonne Edouard of Celtic celebrates Scoring his second goal of the game during the Scottish Cup Final between Heart of Midlothian FC and Celtic FC at Hampden Park on May 25, 2019. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Originally signed on loan from PSG in the second half of the 2017/18 campaign, ‘French Eddy’ became an instant hit and scored a memorable winner at Ibrox on Beautiful Sunday that was massively responsible for the infamous ticket allocation spat.

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Odsonne impressed Brendan Rodgers so much so that the Irishman persuaded the club to splash out a then club record fee of £9 million to bring the French under 21 international to Glasgow on a permanent basis.

The Frenchman helped us win numerous honours, eight in total, including two trebles. He had a knack of scoring vital goals, whether that was in derbies, cup finals, or in Europe, he more than proved his quality.

Odsonne Edouard of Celtic scores his team’s opening goal during the Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on December 29, 2019. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

There is however a false narrative hanging over Odsonne Edouard concerning his attitude in his last campaign at the club, which is regularly called into question, the usual phrase used is that he ‘downed tools’ during the Covid season. That to me is totally uncalled for and the stats instantly banish any accusations over his professionalism in his final days as a Celtic player.

Eddy scored 22 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions in that rather unforgettable campaign. Yes he underperformed by his own standards but he was far from the worst offender in that disastrous COVID campaign that seen us finish without a trophy as we lagged far behind behind a theRangers side who were deservedly crowned champions for the first time in their history.

Odsonne Edouard of Celtic is congratulated after scoring from the penalty spot during the Scottish Cup semi-final between Aberdeen and Celtic at Hampden Park on April 14, 2019. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Celtic boosted about how great the transfer window was that summer yet it turned out to be disastrous. Not Odsonne’s fault.

Momentum was lost when the club had games postponed by the Scottish Government after Boli Bolingoli decided to break the Covid rules by travelling abroad from Prestwick airport to meet a young woman. Hardly Eddie’s fault.

Neil Lennon, Scott Brown and poolside after arriving Dubai ahead of the Winter training getting underway.

The decision to take the entire squad to Dubai in January, same again not the fault of the French striker.

Many were guilty of not playing to their full potential that fateful campaign, but Eddy was nowhere near the top of that list, finishing a dire campaign as top scorer is proof of that.

The team just didn’t get going and with no supporters in the grounds it was tough of Celtic but actually helped theRangers – they have never won a Scottish Premiership title with their fans going to games.

Odsonne Edouard of Celtic shoots at goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and St. Mirren FC at Celtic Park on August 21, 2021 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

If you look back at the first ten in a row attempt by Celtic it was also a season where everything that could go wrong did and when Rangers FC had their chance they couldn’t do it either. Celtic’s second attempt had a global pandemic thrown into the mix and that played a huge part in us like Jock Stein’s Celtic in the 1970s and Walter Smith’s Rangers side in the 1990s, falling at the tenth hurdle.

Photo imago/Colorsport Kenny Dalglish

Did Celtic supporters blame it on Kenny Dalglish, or did Rangers FC fans blame Brian Laudrup? No, so why is Odsonne Edouard continually singled out for ‘downing tools’ in season 2020/21. He like everyone else involved is partly responsible for what happened but his is only a tiny percentage. Did Henrik win the league every season he was at Celtic? No he didn’t.

Edouard was one of a number of players who were looking for a transfer at the end of the previous season but COVID prevented that happening – and the others involved don’t seem to get the grief he does. It wasn’t his fault that Fraser Forster dragged out his decision then opted NOT to return only after the club had released Craig Gordon and instead spend £5m of the worst goalkeeper we have ever seen play for the club.

Odsonne eventually moved on to pastures new the following season and fully deserved his move. He didn’t rock the boat when his move didn’t happen in summer 2020, like for instance Moussa Dembele had done, yet Mousse gets plenty of love these days from some Celtic fans but Odsonne gets the false downed tools narrative continually.

To many others, myself included, his contributions to the club were much appreciated and he certainly doesn’t deserve to have his name discredited in such a manner. To call it into question is quite frankly ridiculous, a quick glance at his stats are full testament of his ability.

What do you think? Have your say in the comments section below…

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