The Celtic boss will make his Munich decision on merit, not on sentimentality.

Today, I see that Chris Sutton is urging Celtic not to drop Adam Idah for the Champions League game in Munich, suggesting that doing so—especially to play Maeda through the middle—would be a slap in the face to him. In one way, I understand what Sutton is saying, but in another, I’m left wondering, not for the first time, why some people just don’t listen to what the manager actually says.

Everyone should know by now that
Maeda would not be the manager’s first choice through the middle, since Rodgers has said it often enough. Idah has started recent games, and he will almost certainly start in Germany, but he has to prove himself worthy of that position. It doesn’t just get handed to you automatically. I’ve been impressed by how he’s handled the role, but he has to keep proving himself because there are no emeritus positions in this Celtic lineup.

We will certainly buy a striker in the summer, and we’ll probably spend big money on one because that’s what Rodgers wants. Then it’ll be competition time all over again for those who want to be our central striker. And Adam? Well, he’ll just have to live with that. Players don’t get handed a spot in this team by entitlement—they earn it by proving they deserve to be in it.

Don’t get me wrong, I love big Chris, as everybody knows. But it’s the manager’s prerogative to pick the Celtic team, and he’ll do what’s in the best interests of the club as a whole, not any individual player.

I love big Idah too, but he’s going to have to keep proving he belongs in this team. Otherwise, he won’t be the man leading the line.

By the same token, plenty of people think Yang has earned his place in the squad, at least on the bench. But James Forrest is now fit, which complicates that situation, and the only question then is which of the two is the better player and which is the better fit on any given day. Again, that’s a decision the manager will make without sentimentality coming into it.

We’re in a good place right now. Some in the media are writing about possible splits in the squad where there aren’t any, and that doesn’t help us. Right now, everybody at this club is happy with where they are and their respective positions. Big Adam knows he’s going to get more opportunities than he would have a month ago, especially as the manager doesn’t want to change the team’s shape too much.

Idah has another chance today to prove himself. If he bags a couple of goals, then there’s really no argument for moving him, is there? That’s all it comes down to—he just has to keep putting the ball in the net and making the manager’s decision an easy one. As long as he does that, he’ll be in the team. He will have earned his place.

Big Adam has already benefited from the fact that we didn’t sign a striker. He is now pretty much on his own in that position because we’re not going to start young Johnny Kenny ahead of him. The only real concern for him is if the manager is forced to do something he doesn’t want to do. Any player who blows an opportunity like that doesn’t deserve to be in the side in the first place.

I’m not going to go in hard on big Chris, because Sutton means well. He always means well. He’s one of the few people in the media who, even when he’s critical of Celtic, does it because he cares about the club. He’s never just being critical for the sake of it or to take a dig at a team he doesn’t particularly like. We know what Sutton is—he’s one of us.

But it’s a bit silly to suggest it would be a “slap in the face” if Idah doesn’t start in Germany. The manager will pick the team he believes can do the best job on the day. All indications are that Idah will be in that team. But if he isn’t, it will be nothing more than a cold, calculated decision—no malice, no spite, and certainly no slap in the face.

Rodgers is an elite-level manager. I think we can trust his judgment.

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