BRENDAN Rodgers has revealed that he joked with Kieran Tierney about how worried Celtic’s wingers are about his impending return to Parkhead after the left-back helped Arsenal to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final this week.
Tierney came on for Mikel Arteta’s side out wide towards the end of their 2-1 win over Real in the Bernabeu in Spain on Wednesday night and helped them to book a place in the semi-final of the competition.
Rodgers was pleased to see the Scotland internationalist feature in the match even if he replaced goalscorer Gabriel Martinelli in attack and didn’t feature in his preferred position in defence during his brief time on the park.
He is confident the 49-times capped 27-year-old can help Celtic to build on the progress which they have made during his tenure to date and make a major impression both at home and abroad in the coming seasons.
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“I was in contact with Kieran during the week and told him our wingers are very scared now because he’s playing on the left and the right,” he said as he looked ahead to the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final against St Johnstone at Hampden tomorrow.
“He has different strengths and qualities (to Greg Taylor). When you are trying to build a squad, you are trying to have different strengths within it. Kieran has pace and power and running ability. He also has a passion for the club and can’t wait to be here.
“But we also need a squad of players and he can dovetail perfectly with someone like Greg. But we have to wait and see what happens there.”
Asked about Tierney being involved in the latter stages of the Champions League, he said, “Irrelevant of his experiences, we will improve as a squad when he comes back. But I’m really pleased for him.
“It was a fantastic performance by Arsenal over the two legs and to see him be involved in that is obviously a great experience for him. It’s going to be a really exciting last couple of months for him there.
The Northern Irishman has not given up hope that Greg Taylor, who is out of contract in the summer, but who has still not put pen to paper on an extension, will opt to remain in the East End of Glasgow.
“I have said all along, he is a player I so want to keep here,” he said. “But that bit of it is out of my hands now. Until then, we just continue to work with him and never give up hope because there is still a bit of time left until the end of the season. But I have got nothing concrete to give you on that.”
“I am hoping this is one of these ones which can maybe go on longer and doesn’t go the other way because normally in this situation it feels that way. But I think you see from Greg’s performance last week he is committed to Celtic.
“He was so good in the game, absolutely so good. In terms of that role, that inverted position, that is as good as I have seen that played last week. You are playing against teams that are man to man so you need to have mobility in your team, you need to have players who can find space, be clever, know when to be inside, when to be outside.
“We spoke to him in pre-season when we were playing Chelsea and Man City about him being in that No 10 position at times and the first goal (against Kilmarnock last week) comes from him being in that position. He combined with Reo [Hatate) and Reo scored a brilliant goal.”
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Rodgers continued, “He is such a fantastic player, but he is more than that. He is not just a great footballer for the way we play and the system that we play, he is very instrumental off the field. He has got a big personality in the changing room, his character fits this club.
“Why? Because he is up for every single game, I mean every single game, whether it is RB Leipzig at home, where he was absolutely brilliant, or an away game, he is up for every game. He is in tune with what being a Celtic player is about. Greg lives that feeling.”
Asked if he hoped winning another treble with Celtic could convince Taylor to stay, Rodgers said, “Listen, he knows how we all feel about him here. It is a big decision at 27. If you going to commit you are committing for four or five years. You are pretty much saying this is your big contract here.
“I think he knows what he gets from a football perspective. He has every right to take his time and try and get his value met, I totally understand that. Of course, he wants to win trophies and succeed. The big thing for Greg is playing of course.
“We have obviously got Kieran coming back in but it is still a squad and it is still a season, especially now when it has felt such a long season with no breaks or anything in there. Even more so you need a really, really good squad.”
