Three Players Have Emerged As Part Of The Celtic Revival Plan. Well Done To Them.

The last couple of games have shown us that we have three possible stars in this team, three players who may have a big, big impact on this title race.

One was signed last year but his deal was only made permanent in the summer. One was signed during the summer. The third was signed in January.

One is an Ange player. The other is a Mark Lawwell signing. The third was a prototypical Rodgers player, fitting his blueprint. All are important to us.

It’s weird how this stuff happens, and some of it is down to luck. I don’t want anyone thinking that because one of these players, Yang, is looking good all of a sudden or has something to offer Rodgers that it rehabilitates the head of scouting because it most certainly doesn’t. Those who want to defend that man aren’t getting it at all; we want the best qualified person in that job, and it doesn’t matter if he gets it right once in a while.

Besides, he’s presiding over a strategy that in the case of this one player has only now started to bear fruit, and that’s no use to us at all. Flooding the team with projects, none of whom was ready to make an immediate impact, doesn’t help the first team squad at all.

But I’ll say this; Yang, to me, always looked like one of the better signings because he’s big, he has pace and he is physically strong. That neatly fits into the Rodgers style which, I suspect, is why he’s suddenly found prominence in the side of late.

He is still raw. He is a long way from being the finished article. He has loads to learn. But there’s something to work with and if we’re going to play this sort of aggressive, front-foot football now he’ll do well get better the longer he is in the team. I wouldn’t hesitate to play him against Hearts, he is exactly the sort of player who can give their defence trouble.

Iwata is emerging as the next important player. Rodgers identified him as a good one over the summer, and played him primarily in central defence as we looked for solutions to our injury issues there. But as those cleared up he gave him a chance in central midfield and I think he’s looked pretty damned good there, which is what you would expect from the last clearly identifiable Ange signing, and a guy who won the MVP award in Japan in his final year.

Iwata is a cool customer. He is a tough player, although he doesn’t look particularly imposing. But he is strong and calm on the ball. He can tackle and pass. I like what I see from him, and the manager very obviously does. Keith Jackson made the ludicrous assertion that after being subbed against Motherwell that we might not see him in a Celtic shirt for a while; I told him if he wanted to bet on it I’d take his money. Not bad that it took only one game. He clearly doesn’t pay attention, because it’s been clear for a while that Rodgers likes the guy.

The third key player is Idah, and for some folks that will be the biggest surprise of them all. I have had a weird time with this signing. At first, I supported it because although I didn’t know much about him it didn’t take long to find out that he’s both quick and physically strong. I got into quite the Twitter argument over it when I said it made sense as a Rodgers signing. But I flipped on it when I found out that he wasn’t coming on a deal with an option to buy.

I still find that bizarre. It’s like we’re developing someone else’s player for them, and it is of course particularly frustrating now we see he’s got something worth having, which he definitely does. The thing is, he might be available for a reasonable fee and even if he isn’t the thing that matters most here is that we see the difference it makes to the team to have a player up front who brings those qualities which Rodgers required.

The summer window must – absolutely without question – deliver for Rodgers if he’s still at the helm. And that sort of striker is top of the list, followed closely by the left back we need. We’re glimpsing the plan, in the little things right now.

Let’s all hope that it is enough.