SCOTT Sinclair may have been out of the frame this season, but he won’t be a forgotten man at Celtic now that he has left the club.

He can be rightly proud of what he achieved as a Celtic player, particularly in his first season here when he was absolutely exceptional. He was Scotland’s player of the year and deservedly so, scoring a barrowload of important goals and being unplayable on his day.

His Celtic career may well have petered out somewhat in the end, but there is no doubt that he played a pivotal part in a treble Treble, and there aren’t a lot of players who can say that.

Yes, he may have been particularly central to the first of those Trebles, but he certainly played his part in the others too, contrary to what many people might think.

He was of course a revelation at Celtic when he first arrived, and all credit to Brendan Rodgers for bringing him to the club. He obviously knew him from his time at Swansea, and he turned out to be one of his best signings.

Nobody is perfect all the time, and form can come and go, but Sinclair had as close to a perfect season as you can get in the Invincibles’ season.

Even in the next campaign, when some people were saying his form had dipped, he still got 18 goals and a barrowload of assists.

And then even last season, while you could see he wasn’t quite the player he had been, he chipped in with 17 goals. For a wide player, his goals to game ratio was extraordinary.

Unfortunately, in football, you can fall out of favour for whatever reason, and he was seldom used this term. Subsequently, when he did come in, he looked rusty.

What I really admired about him was that every time he pulled on that shirt, whether he played well or not, he gave it his all. And when he wasn’t included, although he wouldn’t have been happy, you never heard any murmurings of discontent in public.

I think he deserves so much credit for his time at Celtic, but it was the right time for a parting of the ways. And that is as much for Scott Sinclair as Celtic.

He now has a two-and-a-half-year contract at Preston, and he will hopefully get the regular first-team football that he has been looking for.

He was a really good pro and seemed to do everything the right way. He was never troublesome and gave his all in training and in games.

I think Scott himself will know that while there may not have been a great fanfare when he left and he didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to the fans at a game, he left in the best of spirits from his own, the fans’ and the club’s point of view.

He will look back on his Celtic stay as one of the best periods of his career I’m sure, and Celtic supporters will always hold him in high regard.

From Celtic’s point of view, the interest in Lewis Morgan that seems to have come out of the blue from Inter Miami leaves them in the unexpected position of now having to look at potentially bringing in another wide man, presuming Morgan makes the move.

It would be quite a move for the boy, and I think both Morgan and the club will consider it given that he isn’t considered as a first-team regular.

He couldn’t be faulted for effort, and in time, he might well have improved at Celtic and become an integral part of the team, but given the competition in the wide areas, I always felt it unlikely he would get much of a chance in the second half of the season.

Mohamed Elyounoussi will be coming back into the frame after the winter break, and James Forrest should really benefit from this short break, and you would consider them the first-choice wingers. You then have Mikey Johnston backing them up, as well as Ryan Christie who can play in the wide areas, so Morgan’s game-time would have been limited.

Given that Johnston has had frequent niggles throughout this season, Neil Lennon may be looking to strengthen on the flanks, but the priority for me has to be a striker. They need at least one, and perhaps two.

The supporters may be getting a little bit edgy, and that is to be expected. The issues up front have been known for some time, so people may have expected a new forward to walk through the Celtic Park doors just after the bells on Hogmanay.

It doesn’t always work that way, and Celtic may have to bide their time to get the right signing - or signings - in.

The January window is always an important one for Celtic in that they have to make signings with an eye on the summer European qualifiers. It’s about trying to get players in who can make an impact in the short term for this season, but balancing that with a need to get players bedded in for the early games in July.

It may be a cliché, but there is no getting away from the fact that the winter window is difficult though. Prices seem to be higher mid-season, and availability is lessened.

In hindsight, Celtic are paying the price for not bringing in another striker in the summer. There was never any guarantee over the fitness of Leigh Griffiths, while Bayo was untested at this level.

I’m sure that Neil Lennon will be looking to rectify that mistake soon, and I’m certain he will have something up his sleeve to take the pressure off Odsonne Edouard.

They have to rectify that error in this window. They have the financial clout to do it, and I expect Celtic to make a statement of intent in this window going into the crucial second half of the season.