Johnny Phillips: Tom Rogic aims to add a little bit of X Factor to Baggies
X Factor, Pop Idol, The Voice. Talent contests have swamped the music industry in the 21st century, creating careers and making stars of many who enter the competitions. This week, West Bromwich Albion signed a footballer whose own career path began on a football talent contest and may yet lead all the way to the Premier League.
Former Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic arrived at The Hawthorns as a free agent after almost a decade in Scotland. At 29 he still harbours hopes of reaching the top of English football and should he do so it will represent the culmination of an incredible journey.
Back in 2010, the teenage Rogic was a million miles from a career in professional football. He had been playing a bit of Futsal for fun at home in Australia when a former coach rung him about a talent contest he had seen advertised in the local press and suggested Rogic entered.
Nike’s ‘The Chance’ was offering six months’ coaching at their Loughborough University academy. 75,000 hopefuls across 42 countries entered the competition. That intake was whittled down to just 100 global finalists, who were filmed for a reality television series before the final choice was made. Eight lucky youngsters went on to earn a place at the academy as part of a squad which also included several players who had dropped out of Premier League academies.
The Nike Academy played 22 games against the academies of top European sides in what became a travelling shop window for their talents. Rogic scored against Inter Milan in one game and his coach, Jimmy Gilligan, knew he had a player of great promise on his hands.
“He’s one of the most talented, raw potential players I’ve ever come across in my life,” Gilligan said. “Tom can travel with the ball, pass the ball and has great visual awareness. He can hit 60-yard balls as if he is playing a five-yard pass.”
On the back of those academy performances Rogic earned a trial at Reading, then managed by Brian McDermott. The Royals wanted to sign Rogic but he was unable to secure a work permit. It was a crushing blow but it wasn’t the end of the story. He returned to the southern hemisphere where Australian A League side Central Coast Mariners decided to sign him. By 2012, after a call-up to the Australia national side, Rogic was back on the radar of European clubs. And this time, as a full international, the work permit was no longer an obstacle.
Celtic, under Neil Lennon, took a chance and offered him a trial at a warm weather training camp in Spain before Rogic completed a £450,000 move to the Scottish giants in January 2013. Shortly afterwards I had the opportunity to speak with Lennon and Rogic at the club’s Lennoxtown training base about a move that captured the imagination of supporters.
“We had him in Spain for a week and he was so comfortable training with the first team,” Lennon recalled. “He’s got quick feet for such a big guy, is very elegant on the ball and has an eye for goal. Tom is your quintessential Australian, very laid back and just takes everything in his stride.”
Across nine and a half years in Glasgow, Rogic became a key member of a team that built a dynasty. Six Scottish Premiership titles followed as part of four domestic trebles. The highlight was unquestionably his stoppage time winner in the Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen at Hampden Park in May 2017 which secured the first of those historic trebles.
“He could play in a tuxedo,” his former manager, Brendan Rodgers, once said. “Tom has this incredible quality of standing still and knowing where to stand. He conserves his energy well so that when he doesn’t have the ball, he can press the game.”
“Celtic has been an enormous part of my life for such a long period,” Rogic told the club’s television channel during a farewell interview after lifting the Scottish Premiership trophy last May. “I was just a boy when I first signed and it has shaped me as a player and person.”
Albion fans do not need to search for long to find an impressive highlights reel. Last December, Rogic weaved his way past four Dundee United assailants before curling a sublime finish into the corner of the net at Tannadice. It was a goal which typified everything he is about and helps explain why he earned such an iconic status at Celtic Park.
The question now is: can Rogic do it in the Championship? The biggest stumbling block may prove to be the physicality and pace of England’s second tier. The 29-year-old has played most of his career in a team that has swept all before it, dominating possession and having the time and space to exploit far weaker opponents.
It will not be the same here. The Championship is far more physical and competitive than the Scottish Premiership and Albion will rarely enjoy dominating their opponents to the extent Celtic can in their domestic league. If Rogic can bridge that gap then Albion unquestionably have a gem on their hands. But it is a big step.
Rogic knows this is a huge opportunity, though, and will do everything he can to make a success of the move. The X Factor footballer who made it all the way to the Premier League? There is plenty of work ahead before that chapter can be written but Rogic’s progress will be fascinating to watch.
