Football is a funny game. Opinions can change quickly and one can only hope that it is for the better. Patience is rare in the modern game, especially at a club like Celtic, where the expectation is to win pretty much every game that they take part in. As a result, sometimes, a bad performance or two might be enough to derail a player's Parkhead career completely and make sure that he never gets another proper chance to get back into the team.
Some players take time to find their feet though. It is important to understand that. Just take a look at the likes of Tomoki Iwata and Oh Hyeon-gyu, who never really got a real chance to succeed at Celtic but have flourished since leaving the club.
One summer signing that has been heavily criticised in recent times is that of Michel-Ange Balikwisha. He failed to impress the fans in his early appearances.
But the Motherwell game might prove to be the turning point for the Belgian winger. It looks like a section of fans are already starting to change their minds on Balikwisha.
'Shouldn’t write off' - Celtic fans change minds on heavily criticised player
One Celtic fan wrote after Balikwisha's positive contribution in the comeback win vs Motherwell: "Maybe folk shouldn’t write off Balikwisha after 180 minutes of football?"
Another fan said: "Balikwisha’s assist to Maeda’s goal was a good cross, hopefully that’ll be a confidence builder for him and the beginning of his best yet to come."
Well, that display was certainly a step in the positive direction for Balikwisha. Now, the hope is that he builds upon that and goes on to have a brilliant season with the Hoops.
Of course, it is also important to keep expectations realistic. Balikwisha might have had a good moment against Motherwell. But overall, he has not been impressive so far. So, one should not start expecting for him to produce world-class displays on a consistent basis moving forward, because it is unlikely to happen either.