Perhaps I said this last night, and perhaps I didn’t. Either way, I’m not going to join the chorus of people gushing over Kyogo, wishing him all the best, patting him on the back, and saying, “job well done.”
The job’s not done. So, no, it’s not a job well done. It’s yet another example of a player walking away while there’s still something on the line.
I said the timing of this stinks—and it does. But it’s been obvious for a while now that this trend of players leaving clubs when it suits them is a two-way issue.
The club is willing to let him go right now, in defiance of common sense. They’re willing to let a player who signed a contract extension, maybe a year or so back, walk away from that deal because he feels like it. They’re doing this while effectively telling the fans travelling to Birmingham that the club doesn’t care about that game.
If you want to know why I’m angry, it’s because of those supporters. I’m angry on behalf of all of us who looked forward to that game and believed we’d put our best foot forward, believing that the club took it seriously.
But I can only blame the club so much. I blame the player too.
He couldn’t wait a week? He couldn’t stay to give us that game? He couldn’t bring himself to delay this for just seven days to join a relegation-threatened club? It’s shoddy behaviour, plain and simple.
This is all part of a broader issue at the club, and some will say it’s about “counting the beans” and stacking up the money. But I think there’s a moral side to this—a principle, if you will. When a player wants to leave, we let them, no matter how inconvenient the timing. It doesn’t seem to matter if it comes at a crucial moment for the team or when we have urgent needs to address.
That moral equation seems incredibly one-sided.
Frankly, it also makes us look weak. Rodgers has said today that it wasn’t the club; the club could have told him straight that he would leave only when his interests and our were coaligned, and regardless of what anyone says that’s not right now, that’s not with this huge game at Villa Park in front of us.
It makes us look like we don’t have the will to hold players to their contracts, to make them leave only when it suits us, not when it suits them. That’s why you make people sign contracts in the first place—so you can hold them to a certain standard and ensure whatever happens does so on the right terms.
Our policy is to bow to their whims, and I don’t like it. It’s hurt us in the past, and it could hurt us badly in the future. It’s also incredibly frustrating that, even when we should be celebrating a big moment, there’s always a comedown.
While I fully agree that once a player expresses a desire to leave, that should be the end of it, there’s a time and a place to facilitate that. And just before a crucial Champions League game—which could determine so much about our progression and future opponents—is not that time.
More and more, football has become one of those industries where a written contract matters only until it doesn’t suit someone anymore. The idea that players hold all the power is relatively new, but part of the reason they’re seen to have so much control is that clubs have ceded far too much to them.
In the piece I put up this morning, I acknowledged there are plenty of rationales for selling Kyogo. And ordinarily, I wouldn’t hesitate to back the move. But with this game on the horizon, it’s different. I was encouraged to hear Rodgers this morning making it clear that he wants a replacement striker and that simply moving Maeda to play through the middle won’t be enough; that will not help us on Wednesday coming.
I think we could have used our leverage better. We could have reminded the player that his contract still has time to run and told Rennes they’d need to wait seven days. The player could have shown the loyalty to accept that.
So, there’s blame on all sides here.
While I’m not happy with the club for failing to take a stronger line—choosing instead to prioritise getting the deal done and the money in the bank—it’s part of a modern trend where players seem to do whatever they want, whenever they want. This is one of those times when I wish our club had stood firm and resisted, and only for a week. Surely, that was not too much to ask of either party? Our fans travelling down to that game deserve better.
Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images
The Trinity Tims put out a special on the events surrounding the game … and the aftermath. Let’s say I wasn’t terribly happy …
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You are 100pc correct James.
Something doesn’t make sense why Kyogo couldn’t wait another week.
I don’t think we have been told the full story on this.
Also, this is the biggest club competition in the world, Kyogo is on great money at Celtic so why leave just now when who knows just how far we could get in the competition?
With the likes of KT joining this month and a decent knockout draw this should have seen Kyogo desperate to go as far as possible as he will never get to this position with Rennes, who i’m sure could have waited till summer to sign him.
Chris ,this is strange because one of the reasons kyogo wanted to leave was because of his international career ie at Celtic he wasn’t getting pushed enough because the SPFL was too weak,so he wasn’t getting included for the international team,but Rennes in France are about 9 or 10th place and no CL experience so how is he going to improve his international chances at Rennes,the whole thing stinks.
In all walks of life people move on to suit their aspirations and salaries. Thankfully players can no longer be treated like bound servants.
What will we lose if the result goes against us at Villa? Money obviously but because of the random positions of teams in the lower half of the draw we might meet a weaker team than if we had won at Villa. Ange told us not to get too close to our favourites – and then left us himself!
I agree with your position on Kyogo staying until after the Villa game as it’s now left us with no No1 striker for that important match but perhaps the deadline of qualifying had been promised to him a month or two previously and now thats in the bag he can go.
Contracts won’t stop you if something better suited comes up hence working your notice to give your employer time to find a replacement,of which im sure Celtic already have.
If he was promised he could leave at least over a month ago,why haven’t we got a proper striker coming in now.weve had at least a month and still nowhere near getting a striker in place , sevco will be loving this escapade.
Hard to disagree with any of this but think something has Kyogo really determined to leave and I find this disappointing. Striker needed asap
I am not talking about the Kyogo situation here, but any player who expresses their desire to leave should be granted that wish when expedient. There is absolutely no sense in attempting to force an unhappy player to add anything to the team effort and to give his all in the process, for in most cases that just will not materialise. Compromise is the sensible thing to do, tell the player if he continues to put in the effort, then he will get his wishes when it suits both parties. Both Clubs and players have to be flexible to a certain extent despite the contracts involved.
I wonder just how motivated Kyogo has been lately, has been been playing within himself looking to avoid injury? He hasn’t exactly been prolific lately either. Yes the timing is crap and a stronger less money motivated board may have told him to wait until the summer but really what is the point? I want players who are committed to the football club not those with one eye on the door, which is why I find it strange that Taylor is picked more often than not.
There are three parties involved in this, the two clubs and the player so it’s not all about us, what we want, what we need etc, Rodgers said today that the player expressed his desire to move months ago and it’s obvious that he was told he could leave in January….. well it’s January! Unlike the lad at Wolves recently and many others Kyogo didn’t down tools and played, who knows what Rennes position was, perhaps they wanted him earlier and a deal was done to wait until we qualified? obviously the longer January went on the greater the risk of injury and then we’d have been left with a player who didn’t want to or couldn’t play for us. Why is there an assumption that the board are incompetent ? ‘remember all the moaning last window when they were accused of dragging their heels? not wanting to spend money etc etc? That didn’t end too badly. Who knows if the Jota deal was dependent on the Kyogo deal being done? Let’s wait until the window shuts and then we can have a go at the board if it’s deserved.
So the player said months ago he wanted to leave,fair enough so that gave Rodgers and the board months to find a replacement,so here we are at the end of January and no striker in.this board still thinks money is everything and fans are nobody’s,so yes the board are a disgrace,yes they’ve got us millions in the bank but we need it put in the team.
Here I can see a couple of motives/aspects/things that need to be adressed.
1. Brendan said Kyogo had wanted to leave well before January this year. I am pretty sure the agreement had been made for him to be allowed to leave as soon as our progression to the knock-outs was confirmed.
2. There is no point in selecting Kyogo to play in Birmingham, since he wouldn’t do anything worthwhile while in the knowledge of not going to stay longer at the club. Do you realistically believe he would do his best? My bet is that he would just do his best to avoid injury before leaving for pastures new.
3. I get your perspective, but the board know that even if we defeat Villa we are unlikely to reach the top eight. There are many bucks to be gained through higher position in the league phase, yet I am sure the board calculated that it is highly unlikely to get higher, especially since we are going to miss Maeda.
4. If Kyogo, as has been confirmed by the manager, wanted to leave a couple of months ago, then if we are able to sign a high quality striker , then it’s all gonna work out well (eg. the guy from Brondby). If we don’t do it, then we are going to be miserable with just Idah up front.
5. I am sure that Jota coming back was a leverage in discussions with a potential signing of Kyogo – even though it is claimed these are seperate deals.
Agree with all your points especially 2. Kyogo would be frightened to get an injury which might effect his move to Rennes.
I think Celtic have already agreed a fee and terms for the Danish striker.
I felt exactly the same when Dalglish went.
“If you’re looking for loyalty, buy yourself a dog”
People are just people, everybody does what they think is going to be positive and beneficial for them. We can’t avoid that. And we can’t avoid the question and the aswer to this: as we know he wants to leave and we agreed to that, why has there been no high quality replacement before the knock-outs confirmed as a new signing? Why has the board done nothing to release pressure and tension at the club, leaving Brendan with just Idah as an only recognised striker for the rest of the campaign?
I felt the same as a spotty teenager when Nicholas left J.K.
But we still had McGarvey and McCluskey if I remember correctly and then signed McClair and McInally maybe McGhee (Jeez all these prolific Scottish strikers with Mc in their names)…
Let’s hope the new striker will be just as prolific (please do tell me we’re getting one) as they were…
Brendan’s eye for a prolific goal scorer getting the full test now for sure !
I’m finding it hard to be certain it was all Kyogo, did Rennes offer the fee on condition it was now and the board asked him to go? It is possible. I don’t get playing for a club 14th in the French league with no European football gives you a better chance of playing for your country than playing in the CL with Celtic.
The really stupid thing on the part of the club is letting Kyogo go before securing a replacement. That means we’ll end up paying an inflated transfer fee for the eventual replacement as the other club and agent will know we’re desperate. Similar to what happened when signing Idah. It’s not as if there are loads of strikers out there who fit our profile and budget. So it weakens our negotiating position hugely, which in effect will knock a few million off the money received for Kyogo. Meaning he’s been sold pretty cheap really.
I think the player is to blame here. And in fairness, his performances have been sub par this season so not the loss he might have been. If we can get Jota in (is he eligible for Champions League?) and another striker in I think most fans will be happy.
kenny dalglish gave us six full seasons he was one of the best players in europe.
Anyone gonna say it .
Traded Immortality for mediocrity
Leaving halfway through a season got brendan some shit thrown his way .
If this is kyogo’s choice , then he is a fuckin halfwit
Imagine going to a club in a shitty French league that imo is a lesser league than ours .
No big stage champions league to play in .
AMF . That’s adios mother fucker
I think that this transfer has been on the cards for a couple of weeks, in retrospect Kyogo hasn’t looked happy for some time and his form up until the transfer window opened hasn’t been up to much. His performances have picked up in the past couple of weeks which I think could have been because he was demob happy and knew this move had been agreed.
He must be getting offered some amount of money as playing with a team going nowhere in France doesn’t look very attractive. Maybe he came to the conclusion that he didn’t suit BR’s style of play and maybe the feeling was mutual.
It’s now over to BR and the moneymen to find a striker with as many goals in him as Kyogo, that won’t be easy in the market we shop in.
Nail on head
Micmac , what annoys me with this kyogo thing is ,playing with Celtic in a pishy SPFL wasn’t helping his international career,so now he’s went to a 14th place in a pretty poor french league,so the whole thing stinks he’s probably going for a bigger wage,so once more we are being used ,I just hope this doesn’t encourage his fellow Japanese team mates to follow suit ,but maybe they have more honour,but our board probably loved this ,made money on kyogo but have spent nothing on a replacement striker,
His choice of club is baffling, they are having an awful season and won’t be in Europe next year. The Villa game is still a massive game no matter what, no Maeda or Kyogo definitely leaves a hole, who’s going to step up?
A lot of mixed emotions and comments about Kyogo’s departure, and it is great to read !
I think a few have got annoyed at the word “disgrace” being used at the timing of his departure and believing it is aimed at our board.
Bottom line is, we all want to kick on with the positivity from Wednesday night’s win and finish this season with a treble and as far as we can progress in Europe.
Selling your main striker, without an obvious replacement in situ, ( at the moment) is not what we want to read about!
The optimists amongst us, want to believe that our manager sanctioned this sale, in the full knowledge that we have an adequate ( or even better) striker, lined up!
If that’s the case, we welcome the new addition(s), when they are announced!
However, If it’s a case of putting profit before progress, and there is no obvious replacement, then the timing is a disgrace!
Let us hope we have the optimistic option in place! HH
Gerry do you really think we’ve got an alternative sticker waiting to come in, Rodgers and the board knew months ago kyogo was leaving this window,so where is his replacement ,this is the Celtic money grabbing board we’re talking about here,big pistol Pete has got his grubby hands all over this and he’s told Rodgers to do one,which Rodgers does because he’s getting paid millions,he’s in this with big pistol Pete.
I totally agree James,actually sick of watching podcasts wishing Kyogo all the best etc etc,I get that but maybe next Thursday.
I’m going to Birmingham deflated now.
I’d just like to thank Kyogo for the wonderful goals he’s scored for us during his time here. Big goals in Cup finals, derbies and European nights. His goals to game ratio is phenomenal and I’ve loved seeing him embrace our support and club, all with a big grin on his face.
Aw the best wee man and thank you ??
I don’t believe Kyogo asked to leave months ago. If that was the case, our self proclaimed Dr of football, Paul Tisdale would have identified a few replacements and one of them would surely have a hoops top on by now. Rennes offered the cash and the accountant asked the lad to leave
Spot on Dan,what on earth is tilsdale doing, according to sources Rodgers and pistol Pete knew kyogo was leaving in winter transfer window,so they’ve had weeks to come up with a replacement, where is he? The whole thing stinks and IMO Rodgers is in cahoots with pistol Pete and happy to go along with this ,aye kyogo wanted to leave we’re told but couldn’t wait another week till this important CL game was played,nah something is rotten in Denmark.