As the club announced late last night, Scott Sinclair has joined Preston North End on a 2 and a half year deal which will see him at Deepdale until the summer of 2022.
To say we’re happy with this would be an understatement. We published a piece about Scott’s career so far and what North End fans could possibly expect to see from the 30-year-old, you can read that here.
⚡ It’s been beautiful, magical!
Thanks for the memories, @Scotty_Sinclair – and best of luck at @pnefc 🍀⚪ pic.twitter.com/7yQhyOFeqO
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 8, 2020
For this one though, we figured we’d get the view of a Celtic fan. Lewis Laird, a contributor at @90MinuteCynic gave us his thoughts on Scott Sinclair and answered a few questions for us. You can give Lewis a follow on twitter here if you want – @LewisLaird01.
Question: What type of player is Scott Sinclair?
On his best day, Scott Sinclair is a very direct left winger who will look to take on his man and beat him, mostly going infield and trying to get an effort off on goal. In more recent days, however, Sinclair has developed his game because at times he’s like a second striker.
He gets into good positions in the box and will score you plenty of goals when he gets the opportunity. He’s also a hard worker and will give 100% for the side and also offers good defensive cover for the fullback.
Question: Some North End Fans have said they think the reason he’s not played for Celtic is that he is past it, is that so?
I don’t believe Sinclair is ‘past it’. For me, it’s more that his cycle at Celtic was coming to a natural end after 4 years. With quality wingers such as Mohamed Elyounoussi coming in during the summer and the fast emergence of tricky youngster Mikey Johnston, Sinclair found his playing time limited.
Sinclair could have probably had a place in the Celtic squad this season had it not been for two wingers ahead of him being in great form whenever they have played, so it was always going to be hard for him to get back into Neil Lennon’s plans.
Question: How do you think he’ll fare in the Championship?
Scott Sinclair, in my opinion will fare well in the Championship. As I mentioned earlier, he has developed his game into more of a penalty box finisher so he’ll grab a good amount of goals in the league in my opinion.
At times he may be frustrating to watch but he’ll pop with a goal from out of nowhere and the earlier performance will be forgotten about. He still has plenty of qualities and the Championship could be the place in which Scott thrives at this point in his career.
✍️ BREAKING: Preston North End are delighted to confirm the permanent transfer of forward @Scotty_Sinclair from Scottish Premiership side @CelticFC!
➡️ https://t.co/8Uaw1gpMQ0 #pnefc pic.twitter.com/v8z2VctkXN
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) January 8, 2020
Even though he has been out the side for a while, it’s an emotional move for many Celtic fans, with Sinclair having had an absolutely sensational 18 months at the club.
Watching him during the Invincible season, he and his performances were something else. Scott Sinclair in full flow is brilliant to watch. Yes, his performances did drop off slightly later on in his Celtic career but he always had a knack of grabbing crucial goals.
At times you’ll need to be patient with him but there is no doubt will he not put in 100% effort. He also carries with him a brilliant song that the Celtic fans created for him.
Without a doubt, he leaves Celtic Park with all of the fans best wishes and I’m sure many fans will be keeping an eye out for how he does in the near future. All the best for the rest of the season, Preston.
