IT will come as little surprise to anyone who has watched Boli Bolingoli play to learn that he started off his career in football as a winger, rather than a left-back. So too did Kieran Tierney, his predecessor in the role for Celtic, although the Scotsman perhaps had more of an immediate aptitude for the defensive side of the game following his conversion than Bolingoli has shown so far.
The 24-year-old knows that he is still a work in progress in that regard, but he doesn’t want to blunt his key strengths in terms of supporting the attack either. And with Neil Lennon’s help, he is hoping to strike the balance between his natural urge to bomb forward and the necessity to put the reins on.
If he can manage that, he is still hopeful of becoming an icon with the Celtic support like Tierney before him, rather than a cult figure at best, or as harsh as it may be to say it, something of a joke figure at worst.
“I’ve been working on that - even at Rapid Vienna I was working on that,” Bolingoli said.
“I’m a born offensive player but they made me a left-back. I’m progressing as a player in that position. I started as a left-winger but the coach who converted me was Juan Carlos Garrido at Bruges.
“When I went up to the first-team the first game he played as a left-winger then he told me my career as a left-winger was over! So, after that I started as a left-back.
“It took me a little while to accept it but now I’m working hard on the defensive side of my game, thinking defensively. Sometimes I still think like a winger, I have to click back. I’m trying to focus like a defender, then offensively it will come.”
While acknowledging the development that is still to come from him, Bolingoli is hoping he has shown his manager enough to be trusted at left-back when Cluj come to Glasgow once more on Thursday night.
When the Romanians secured a 4-3 win to knock Celtic out of Champions League qualifying back in August, Bolingoli was dropped to the bench alongside fellow new arrival Christopher Jullien, with Celtic boss Lennon deciding that neither of his big-money signings were match-sharp enough for a game of such magnitude.
As it turned out, using Callum McGregor as an emergency left-back backfired, with the overall disruption to the team contributing to the crazy nature of the evening as Celtic shipped four goals on their own patch, and Lennon has vowed he won’t be repeating that mistake this week.
That means that Bolingoli, Greg Taylor or Jonny Hayes will get the nod, and Bolingoli is desperate to be handed thatjersey as Celtic seek retribution.
“Of course, we have a chance of revenge against Cluj,” he said.
“We’re at home and it’s a big game for us so we have to show Cluj who we really are this time.
“It was strange that we scored three goals at home and still lost – that was very hard to take but we have to forget that now because it’s over. We’re in the Europa League group stage now and we want to do something in it.
“With the squad we have and the quality we have I believe we can be successful in this tournament and achieve some of our goals at the end of the season. But we are just taking it game by game at the moment.”
Within the Celtic ranks, as well as the quality that Bolingoli references, there is plenty of European experience, and the 24-year-old has an impressive CV when it comes to the amount of European football he has under his belt too.
He played against Rangers last season in the Europa League for Rapid Vienna along with some other famous names from across the continent, and he is sure that those experiences will stand him in good stead for what could be yet another famous night under the lights at Celtic Park.
“I played in the Europa League with Rapid Vienna and Club Brugge, where I also played in the Champions League,” he said. “Last season I played for Rapid against Inter Milan in the Europa League round of 32.
“That was a nice experience – the San Siro is an amazing stadium and every player would want to play there. Now I believe I can have another good campaign with Celtic.
“I believe in my team and how strong we are. As long as we continue with this mentality, we can go far.”
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