MAIK NAWROCKI didn't get a victory to savour on his shock Celtic return.
But the defender may have given himself a chance to win a long-term reprieve.
Or, at the very least, ensured his club are going to get their £4million outlay back if he heads out of the door this summer.
Positives from Celtic's 3-2 loss to Rangers last Sunday were hard to find.
And while it is difficult to commend defenders who are part of a backline that shipped another three in a disjointed display full of mishaps and mistakes, the Pole was the one who emerged from the wreckage with some pride intact.
Nawrocki was so far out of the Parkhead picture that many supporters had forgotten he was still around until Sunday's teamsheet dropped.
Five minutes against Falkirk in a Premier Sports Cup tie last September.. just 18 against Raith Rovers in a Scottish Cup clash last month... it hardly serves as the ideal preparation for an Old Firm showdown.
Yet he delivered strongly enough for Record Sport columnist Chris Sutton to say: "Nawrocki, for coming in, 23 minutes all season, he had an outstanding game." He'd been there before.
Thrust straight from a fourmonth injury absence into the side from the bench after Stephen Welsh sustained an injury against Rangers in the New Year game of last season, Nawrocki proved he could cope alongside Liam Scales as his team grabbed a pivotal 2-1 win in the title race.
It was a similar scenario four days ago. He hadn't started a game since the final day of last season's Premiership, a dead rubber against St Mirren.
Too much time on the injured list made him unreliable for the manager in the first season and called for the signing of Auston Trusty last August.
Nawrocki kept it simple and was alert. He was the one who bailed out Kasper Schmeichel after the keeper's abysmal pass out of defence presented Vaclav Cerny with a glaring opportunity.
He cut out a pullback from the Czech set to find Cyriel Dessers bang in front of the sticks after more errors by colleagues.
It was Jeffrey Schlupp who lost the run of Nicolas Raskin for Rangers' opener. Nawrocki was then dragged out of the central area by Dessers for Mohamed Diomande's goal but no one covered in behind.
And for the Hamza Igamane 88th-minute winner, the responsibility sat squarely on the shoulders of Cameron Carter-Vickers for missing the original long Jack Butland clearance and Alistair Johnson for slipping over. Nawrocki, if being critical, could have been covering straight in behind as Carter-Vickers missed the first ball but, at that stage, he was entitled to be leggy.
A fact not lost on Rodgers after the game when he said: "I thought he'd done really, really well to last the game."
Rodgers also commended the defender for his work prior to that as he added: "He'd done really well. I said that to him in the changing room.
"There weren't too many highlights for us.
"But certainly for him, for a guy who's not played virtually for a year, it shows you how well he's trained and how professional he's been."
It was in those praise- worthy statements where, perh...
But the defender may have given himself a chance to win a long-term reprieve.
Or, at the very least, ensured his club are going to get their £4million outlay back if he heads out of the door this summer.
Positives from Celtic's 3-2 loss to Rangers last Sunday were hard to find.
And while it is difficult to commend defenders who are part of a backline that shipped another three in a disjointed display full of mishaps and mistakes, the Pole was the one who emerged from the wreckage with some pride intact.
Nawrocki was so far out of the Parkhead picture that many supporters had forgotten he was still around until Sunday's teamsheet dropped.
Five minutes against Falkirk in a Premier Sports Cup tie last September.. just 18 against Raith Rovers in a Scottish Cup clash last month... it hardly serves as the ideal preparation for an Old Firm showdown.
Yet he delivered strongly enough for Record Sport columnist Chris Sutton to say: "Nawrocki, for coming in, 23 minutes all season, he had an outstanding game." He'd been there before.
Thrust straight from a fourmonth injury absence into the side from the bench after Stephen Welsh sustained an injury against Rangers in the New Year game of last season, Nawrocki proved he could cope alongside Liam Scales as his team grabbed a pivotal 2-1 win in the title race.
It was a similar scenario four days ago. He hadn't started a game since the final day of last season's Premiership, a dead rubber against St Mirren.
Too much time on the injured list made him unreliable for the manager in the first season and called for the signing of Auston Trusty last August.
Nawrocki kept it simple and was alert. He was the one who bailed out Kasper Schmeichel after the keeper's abysmal pass out of defence presented Vaclav Cerny with a glaring opportunity.
He cut out a pullback from the Czech set to find Cyriel Dessers bang in front of the sticks after more errors by colleagues.
It was Jeffrey Schlupp who lost the run of Nicolas Raskin for Rangers' opener. Nawrocki was then dragged out of the central area by Dessers for Mohamed Diomande's goal but no one covered in behind.
And for the Hamza Igamane 88th-minute winner, the responsibility sat squarely on the shoulders of Cameron Carter-Vickers for missing the original long Jack Butland clearance and Alistair Johnson for slipping over. Nawrocki, if being critical, could have been covering straight in behind as Carter-Vickers missed the first ball but, at that stage, he was entitled to be leggy.
A fact not lost on Rodgers after the game when he said: "I thought he'd done really, really well to last the game."
Rodgers also commended the defender for his work prior to that as he added: "He'd done really well. I said that to him in the changing room.
"There weren't too many highlights for us.
"But certainly for him, for a guy who's not played virtually for a year, it shows you how well he's trained and how professional he's been."
It was in those praise- worthy statements where, perh...
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Daily Record (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 20, 2025