Too early to know if Celtic Paradise becomes purgatory for Ireland's Bosun Lawal

Celtic seems a club Irish players slip in and out of without laying down roots.

Mikey Johnston is having a purple patch at West Bromwich Albion while another January loanee who headed the opposite direction from the Championship, Adam Idah, is revelling in Paradise.

Liam Scales has finally broken in this season after consigning himself in the summer to an exit but consistency of games is an elusive thing for the natives of a country so closely connected to Celtic FC.

Barry Coffey, Jonathan Afolabi and Luca Connell before them gave up on the Celtic dream too.

It’s too early to know if Paradise becomes purgatory for Bosun Lawal too.

He’s part of their legion sent out on loan and can’t do much more for a 20-year-old on his first temporary move.

Fleetwood Town is known in these parts as the League One club whose former Chairma, jailed fraudster Andy Pilley, added Waterford to his multi-club stable in 2022.

They’ve used that link to hoover up top talent from the League of Ireland but it’s been a struggle for survival this year.

One Scottish manager, Scott Brown, was succeeded by another by Charlie Adam – after a short stint by Lee Johnston – and they’ve themselves a chance of reviving results to move within two points of safety.

Lawal’s been a foundation of that resurgence, moving into midfield from his customary centre-back position, and operating like an experienced playmaker.

His brace in the 4-2 win over Wigan Athletic earned him acclaim beyond that third tier and he’ll return to Celtic in the summer armed with a contract extension until 2026.

“The plan is to get as many games as I can up at Fleetwood and go again for Celtic in pre-season and hopefully stay at Celtic,” he said, as he gears up for Ireland’s Euro