Could Celtic's old bhoy James Forrest be Ange Postecoglou's silver lining?

Yet it was a grand old team player James Forrest who stepped up to the plate for Ange Postecoglou's men at Hampden Park when Celtic needed it most.

Whilst the Numer 10 played a significant part in driving his side to victory in the 1-0 League Cup win over St Johnstone, so too did the number eleven.

For the record, Forrest has been at Celtic for eleven trophy-laden years. It was his goal that shattered St Johnstone's eleven-game unbeaten run in domestic cup competitions having plundered both pieces of silverware last season.

READ MORE: Celtic's 'special' moment, the return of James Forrest and honouring Bertie Auld - Ange Postecoglou's press conference points

It was 30-year-old Forrest who climbed off the bench to notch the 73rd-minute winner for Ange Postecoglou’s men barely four minutes after coming onto the field and helped the new Celtic manager reach the first cup final of his reign at the first attempt.

In a remarkable Celtic career, he has amassed an incredible 19 winners medals. He has nine league winners badges, five Scottish Cup and four League Cup winners gongs. It is quite a haul.

Bertie Auld was a man of the Celtic people and he would win popularity contests hands down among the faithful. Surprisingly James Forrest wouldn't.

It was Bertie Auld who paid James Forrest the ultimate compliment when he compared him to fellow Lisbon Lion Jimmy Johnstone. He described Forrest as being the kind of player who "puts bums on seats" and had the technical ability to "lift bums off the seats once the game starts".

Hyperbole or not, there is no denying that Forrest is a vital cog in the green and white machine. Yet for all of this he's is pretty shy for a wide boy. He's has always preferred to do all his talking on the park as opposed to off it.

Once again he proved that by producing another special Hampden Park moment against the Saints. And to be fair to Forrest, he has provided a few down the years for club and country.

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All the talk beforehand was of how Celtic's "New Three Amigo's" - Jota, Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada - would rip it up at the national stadium and use the wide expanses of the Hampden surface to great effect against St Johnstone.

Forrest did not feature in the pre-match talk at all. However, the super-sub put an injury-hit season behind him by coming up trumps for his manager, his teammates and the supporters.

Last season was the first time that Celtic had failed to win a trophy since the 2009/10 campaign.

Ironically that was when Forrest made his first-team debut for Celtic on 1 May 2010, when he came on as a late substitute against Motherwell and scored the third goal in a 4–0 win.

Now Ange, Forrest and the rest of the Celtic players are ready and able to bring silverware back to the club and deliver success. As Forrest said: “Last season was the first in I don’t know how long we didn’t win a trophy, so with a new team and a new manager it’s great to get into a final.

“For everyone, especially the boys who have come in and haven’t played in a final before, it’s great we have that to look forward to in a month’s time. We had to get there. Everyone is buzzing to come back here for a final now. It’s unreal coming on and managing to score a goal, which turns out to be the winner that gets us to a final. That’s why you work hard, for days like this."

Celtic simply had to get there. Forrest is right about that.

READ MORE: James Forrest inspires Celtic into the first final of Ange Postecoglou's reign

The main beneficiary in the prodigal son return to fitness and form will be Ange. He now has another potentially potent and lethal weapon in the final third to add to his burgeoning arsenal of options in attack.

Forrest would never be a forgotten man at Celtic. However, you got the feeling though that some of the Celtic supporters had forgotten just how much Forrest's valid contribution to the cause had been in the past decade. He was missed dreadfully last season when Celtic imploded in their quest for the coveted ten-in-row.

Earlier this season, Ange was left to lament the fact that he could not include Forrest in his starting eleven. Ange recognises a contributor when he sees one. Speaking about him after the semi-final, Ange said: “James has been through a lot. I’m pleased for James.

"We've been patient with James and he's been patient with himself because he's had a real disruptive start to the season, but he's a quality, experienced player and I knew, once he was fit, the way we play would suit him.

"I knew once he felt good about his own body he would be raring to go and he could contribute and he is an experienced, high-quality player. I guess it shows our progression a little bit as well that we can throw on a player like James. We really struggled at the start of the year with having depth in those areas, so I'm pleased for him and all the players."

It does show Celtic's level of progression under Ange and this was a gargantuan game in the context of the season.

Of Celtic's starting eleven against St Johnstone only Joe Hart, Callum McGregor, Nir Bitton and Josip Juranovic could really only lay claim to having any consistent levels of so-called big-game experience. And yet they somehow found a way to win against a team that was seasoned Hampden campaigners and double cup winners. That really is no mean feat.

It could have been all too easy for Celtic to get frustrated with the way things were panning out but what is clear is that they stuck rigidly to Ange's game plan. The players to their credit played the game and not the emotion-filled occasion that the sad passing of Bertie Auld backdrop provided.

In any semi-final encounter, the end result is the be-all-and-end-all. Winning the match is all that matters. And it was very much a case of job done for Celtic.

It was a huge step for Ange and his players as they attempt to restore the Hoops back to their successful trophy-winning ways. Celtic will return to Hampden Park on Sunday, December 19, hoping to put the first silver lining on the season by lifting the League Cup.

Ange will certainly want to go the whole way now and lift the trophy. Cup finals are no place for losers.

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As Ange, himself, said: “The expectations are that every year this club plays for silverware. The whole group must embrace that, myself included. This club expects to be in the finals and playing off for trophies. The players can’t think because we’re a new group, it’s OK to make a semi-final or not win silverware. We have to set these standards from the beginning. The players are embracing that but they know what it means to represent this football club. The players rose to that challenge. I’m determined to come back and win the trophy.

"Yes, I have a vision of how I want to play football and build a team. Ultimately I knew the measure would be how quickly I can bring success to Celtic. I’m not going to get two or three years to do that. I came here to try and get this club back to where it should be.”

James Forrest may well never be lauded in the eyes of faithful in terms of the popularity stakes like Bertie Auld was but one thing is for certain his contribution to the Celtic cause and success story in the last eleven years has been immeasurable.

He is the living embodiment of the "beautiful house" which Ange wants to build in his new look Celtic. He possesses the very quality that Ange wants to instil in every Celtic player moving forward. In short, Forrest is a serial winner.

You wouldn't bet against Forrest tucking medal No. 20 into his hipper come December at Ange's request - would you?

Scrap that thought altogether. Ange won't request it.

He'll demand it.