They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, don’t they?

That seemed to be the case last night - at least on social media platform X – regarding Celtic’s on-loan winger Mikey Johnston, who scored his second goal for West Bromwich Albion against Plymouth Argyle at Home Park yesterday evening. The Republic of Ireland stalwart now has two goals to his name in just five appearances, after scoring in under a minute against Cardiff City earlier this month, against an opposition that included former Celtic alumni David Turnbull and Nat Phillips in its ranks.

Contracted to his parent club until the summer of 2026, it is good to see a loan player do well in his time away from the club. Not for the first time, either, as his previous temporary move to Vitoria Guimaraes SC last season was also fruitful for the 24-year-old. Eight goal contributions in Portugal’s highest division over 31 games was a good return for the wide-man, whose Celtic career has been stop-start, to say the least.

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To call Johnston a divisive figure amongst the Celtic supporters’ ranks would perhaps be the understatement of the century. After making his initial breakthrough as a teenager under current manager Brendan Rodgers in his first stint at the club, the winger’s career at his boyhood club has stagnated, in part due to a horrific run of injuries sustained both in training and in competitive matches.

Before his move to Championship hopefuls West Brom, Johnston had made his return to Celtic’s starting line-up, playing 12 games in the first half of the season. Despite contributing four contributions in the form of two goals and two assists, the academy graduate split the opinion of both the support and the manager respectively. Indeed, the manager was calling him ‘one of the very best players to come out of Celtic’s academy’ one week and imploring the temperamental winger to ‘do more’ the next. Fitting, considering the up-and-down nature of Johnston’s career thus far at the club.

This brings us back to last night’s events on the south coast of England. Leaving his marker for dead, Johnston skipped by the Plymouth full-back, before cutting inside and striking from distance, leaving the Pilgrims’ goalkeeper with no chance at his far side. A spectacular goal, and one that Celtic have been crying out for from the likes of Luis Palma, Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda. In the case of the latter, it was not unlike the Japan international’s goal against Hibernian last season at Easter Road under Ange Postecoglou.

Of course, the usual revisionism began to transpire online, as some of those of a Celtic persuasion called for an immediate return to the club concerning West Brom’s new loan star. An exhausting exercise to read and witness, and one that has been seen too many times before. After all, this has also transpired previously with the likes of Jack Hendry at KV Oostende, Leigh Griffiths at Dundee and Ryan Christie at Aberdeen.

Granted, the latter example was a big success in the Granite City, but most players out on loan are there for a reason, due to not being good enough to impact the first-team squad with their footballing presence. No two ways about it, Johnston has undoubtedly got talent as a direct winger, as shown in glimpses in Scotland, Portugal and now England. At 24, this Championship spell could be the move to resurrect his stuttering career, which would consequentially be away from the only club he’s known in a permanent capacity. This does not make him a bad player – in fact, far from it – but it is clear that Johnston needs to be away from Celtic and the pressures of Glasgow to succeed as a fully-fledged senior player.

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Many players have donned the colours of the club, only to fall short of making a notable and sustained impact on the side during their careers in Glasgow. Juninho, Shane Duffy and James McCarthy are recent examples of that, for differing reasons and circumstances. For Johnston, that realisation was potentially fast-tracked following sarcastic cheers from the crowd at his substitution off the pitch against Hearts at home in December. Despite rallying and scoring a Boxing Day double against Dundee at Dens Park, all signs pointed away from Glasgow for the versatile wide player, with the court of public opinion not in his favour as a Celtic player on the whole. His temporary departure was made official on deadline day at the start of this month.

This online clamouring for his return is consistent with the aforementioned struggles that Celtic are facing in the position he has vacated. Palma’s form has fallen off a cliff in recent months, whilst Kuhn has done next to nothing since his January move to the club from Austria’s Rapid Vienna. In the case of Asian duo Yang Hyun-jun and Maeda, inconsistency is the order of the day with the pair, whilst James Forrest’s best days are far behind him now. Liel Abada’s current situation opens up an entirely different can of worms altogether. With all of this in mind, perhaps it was a final opportunity squandered in Johnston’s case, given the poor quality and depth of Rodgers’ wide options.

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Playing for Celtic is a mental hill to climb as well as a physical one. Jota, Scott Sinclair and Forrest in the past have shown this strength to succeed and prosper when plying their trade in Glasgow. If it was so easy to play for the club, then Celtic would not have as many problems in these positions in the first place! In truth, better players than Johnston have shrunk in the jersey that he grew up supporting and chasing.

This is why Johnston should remain where he is, with the prospect of earning himself a permanent stay at the Baggies a very real proposition for the Republic of Ireland winger. Here’s hoping he continues to excel and succeed for Carlos Corberán’s side, who look primed for a playoff spot at the very least this season.

In doing so, he will have revived his career as he would have hoped for, just not at Celtic. For his sake, let us hope that this can be the catalyst Johnston needs for the rest of his senior career, one away from the rough and tumble of Glasgow and the pressures the location brings with it.