The Curious Case of Tony Watt

Article by e-Celtic's Tom Shanahan

Click here to follow e-Celtic on Twitter!

In 2011 the Celtic under 19’s were invited to take part in the European youth tournament, The NextGen Series. The tournament included the top youth teams from around the continent and would be a great test for Celtic’s young players.

The highlight of the European campaign was the match at Celtic Park on 31st August against Barcelona. Celtic would be pitting their wits against La Masia’s finest, the academy that brought the football world Xavi, Iniesta and Messi amongst others.

8,000 spectators made their way to Paradise to see the Catalans defeat the young Hoops 3-1 on the night and one goal in particular was the highlight of the match.

If you had said a player was going to pick the ball up just inside the opposition half and dribble past three defenders before rifling a shot into the bottom corner of the net, you would have thought the player in question would be wearing the red and blue of Barcelona. You would have been wrong however, as this goal was scored by a 17 year old boy from Coatbridge, signed from Airdrie United only months earlier.

The £80,000 Celtic spent on Tony Watt looked to be a sure investment for a player who already had experience of professional football with Airdrie at such a tender age. With a good turn of pace and a strong physical presence Watt was one of the leading lights in a successful Celtic youth team.

The following April seen Watt make his competitive debut for Celtic at Fir Park. The young striker came on as a second half substitute and scored 2 goals in a 3-0 victory. Watt had announced himself on the first team stage however; on 7th November 2012 he would right his name into Celtic’s history forever.

Neil Lennon had guided Celtic to the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2008. With four points after the first three matches Celtic and their supporters were loving being amongst Europe’s elite once more. It was also a night of celebration no matter the result as 60,000 fans crammed into the stadium to celebrate Celtic’s 125th anniversary. The atmosphere was simply electric. The fans prayed for a miracle but no one could envisage the part Tony Watt would play as the players walked into a wall of noise.

With Celtic surprisingly hanging on to a 1-0 lead and with the game in the final quarter Neil Lennon brought off the injured Mikael Lustig and replaced him with Watt.

With less than ten minutes to go, Fraser Forster cleared the ball after comfortably saving a Lionel Messi free kick. For once Xavi failed to control the ball as it skidded off the surface and through to Watt, who had kept himself on side. The boy from Coatbridge was quickest to react and found himself one on one with Victor Valdes. With the Barcelona defence bearing down on him Watt took one touch to set himself and smashed the ball into the far corner. The Bhoy from Coatbridge had put his team 2-0 ahead with minutes to go and although Messi pulled a goal back Celtic hung on for the historic victory. Shock waves were sent around the world as the Harlem Globetrotters of football had been defeated by Glasgow’s Green and White.

There will not be many results in Celtic’s history that will ever be able to match that night. For the younger generation of Celtic fans this was the closest they would get to the feeling of Lisbon 1967 and just like that triumph it was a local lad who was the hero.

So how did Tony Watt go from the highs of scoring the winner against Barcelona to being sold to Standard Liege for an alleged fee of £1.2 million?

It is quite ironic that the night Watt put Barcelona to the sword was also the night that things started turning sour. It should of course come as no surprise that someone so young failed to deal with the attention that came his way after the 7th November 2012 however; it should also be a massive disappointment.

Although his time on the pitch against Barca was short Watt was able to show the attributes at his disposal against world class opposition. Watt has the ability to hold off defenders with ease using his 6ft frame and gritty determination. He also has the self confidence and ability to run at defenders, something Javier Mascherano seen first hand at Celtic Park. Unfortunately, he did not seem to have the mind set to make the grade at Celtic at such a young age.

If you listen to managers who have worked with Watt it is always the same answer that is given, his attitude is all wrong. Lennon, Stark, Menzo and now Deila all can’t be wrong.

Watt clearly struggles to live his life in the manner a professional football player should. He has previously spoken about problems he has had maintaining the diet of an athlete, not helped by the fact he decided to leave the family home at such a young age. This amongst others was a fatal decision. Living alone was the last thing Watt should have done, especially when he was starting to become a household name in Scotland. Celtic should have made sure the youngster stayed at home to keep him grounded and not have his head turned by the temptations that are in touching distance for a young footballer.

Watt now has a great opportunity in Belgium to get his career back on track and not go down the same route as so many other Scottish footballers, who failed to live up to the early hype surrounding them. Moving abroad will hopefully help him realise that in order to reach the top your life off the pitch has to be impeccable.

If Watt learns from his mistakes maybe a return to Paradise will be on the cards in the future, where he can further cement himself in the club’s folklore.

© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football