The Celtic Boss Has His Say On Mikey Johnston, But Other Players Should Be Warned.

Mikey Johnston is certainly setting the heather on fire down south. He is the talk of the league down there, and more and more people are asking the same question; what in God’s name were Celtic thinking in letting a player like this go?

Up here, more and more Celtic fans are asking the same question.

But the man who knows best certainly recognises the up and downsides of that question; Brendan Rodgers understands the Mikey Johnston argument. He has long said that he believes that Mikey is a phenomenally talented footballer. He has given him ample opportunity to prove it. But he knows too that something stops Mikey from realising his talents at Celtic.

Rodgers thinks he knows what that something is, and it’s something we’ve identified too; what he calls the “weight” of the Celtic jersey. He is not the only member of our squad who, this season, has struggled under that burden. But he is the one who has been here longest and has more and more come to look as if it’s just too much to carry.

We’ve heard Rodgers say many times that there are people at Celtic at the moment who have still to develop a clear and full understanding of what the expectations at a club our size is like. Johnston is perhaps the person best qualified to speak on that.

There is no doubt that he has immense talent, we’ve all known that for years, but it’s a mentality thing when you are playing for a club this size and as Brendan has pointed out, and as our summer signings have proved, you don’t get a sense of that from reviewing data or from watching how they play in the comfort zone at a club with none of that.

He says he will sit down with Mikey and talk to him when he gets back, and ask him where he thinks his future lies. That would be an interesting conversation to eavesdrop on.

Because although he’s proving what a player he is at West Brom I am not convinced that Rodgers believe he can replicate it in a Celtic shirt. That shirt is not going to get any easier to wear, and if the manager has a major rebuild in mind – which he almost certainly does – it is really difficult to see where Mikey Johnston might fit in to it.

It is interesting that Rodgers has identified the issue with Mikey, it’s interesting as much as it what it reveals about other players as well. He clearly believes that others in the squad have the same problem, and if he can’t find a place for a home-grown talent like Johnston, with all the qualities he possesses, some of these others have no future at Celtic at all.

This is summer is really going to be interesting. And long. And stressful.