Once the Bayern Munich game is safely in the rearview mirror and our European fate for this campaign is finally known, what lies ahead is a straight sprint to a domestic treble. You look at this Celtic squad, and you see a team more than capable of reaching that destination.
We’ve had to juggle our resources up front, thanks to the club’s failure to sign a striker in the January window—despite allowing our best forward to leave in a £10 million move. The official reason? Kyogo wanted out, and the club felt we had to let him go. The alternative, they argued, was playing an unhappy, uncommitted player.
As a result, we handed a debut at Aston Villa to young Daniel Cummings. Since then, he hasn’t even made the bench for Celtic. And the reason for that? Because Daniel Cummings is irrevocably committed to signing for another club. It hasn’t been announced yet, but my understanding is that he has signed a pre-contract agreement with West Ham. His family certainly seems to think so.
Rodgers’ decision to freeze him out completely is simply club policy.
This is how Rodgers reacts when an academy player he wanted to keep decides to go elsewhere. When it became clear that Daniel Kelly was determined to leave, Rodgers froze him out of the team. When it became obvious that Rocco Vata was heading for the exit, he was also benched. The message is clear: if Rodgers believes you’re not committed, you don’t play.
This policy applies across the club, even at the first-team level.
A player like Kyogo, once determined to leave, was sold rather than kept. I have no issue with this approach in principle—I can get behind the idea that only those committed to the club should be on the pitch. What I do take issue with is the inconsistency. If this is policy, why is it being selectively applied?
That question becomes obvious when you look at Greg Taylor.
There are rumours that he has already signed a pre-contract agreement with another club. This hasn’t been confirmed, just like the stories about Daniel Cummings haven’t been. Yet one has been frozen out of the team, and the other hasn’t.
Taylor remains a key player, which makes dropping him more complicated, but I can think of someone who was more crucial to our Champions League effort than Taylor—Kyogo—and that didn’t stop them selling him.
So, what is this? A strict point of policy or something applied for convenience? If it’s the former, then why is Taylor still playing while others are excluded? If it’s the latter, then the club should stop pretending it’s some grand principle.
Months ago, I wrote on this blog about Brendan Rodgers’ own remarks on the subject—how Taylor had to make up his mind, how the club had to make up theirs, and how it all had to be sorted before the January transfer window. And yet here we are, with Taylor in the final months of his contract, no sign that he wants to commit long-term, and still playing ahead of guys with their futures sorted.
Some are kids. Others could be drafted into his role, like Liam Scales.
There’s been a lot of tiptoeing around this issue, most notably by the manager himself. I don’t blame Rodgers for that—it’s clear the club has handled this more delicately than it has in similar cases. But why? Does Rodgers sympathise with Taylor’s demands? If so, and he’s not getting his way, then we have a big problem. Or maybe Rodgers simply doesn’t see another viable option at left-back.
Which brings me back to Kyogo. There wasn’t an obvious replacement for him either, other than moving Maeda into the middle—something Rodgers initially refused to do but has now been forced into due to a lack of options. He probably doesn’t want to play Liam Scales at left-back either, but Scales can do a job there at a push.
The inconsistency in all of this is glaring. Watching Taylor, in the final months of his deal, still getting games despite having no apparent interest in staying, flies in the face of everything we were told about why Kyogo was allowed to leave when he was. Young players who don’t commit are very clearly, very publicly, very obviously, frozen out, yet Taylor remains in the team.
It’s one of the stranger aspects of this campaign, and once the Bayern Munich game is out of the way, I’d like to hear Rodgers address it directly. I want to know why Taylor is still playing when his long-term commitment is in doubt—when Rodgers has made it clear that commitment is non-negotiable. If Taylor is a special case, then I’d like to know what makes him so special. Special enough that Kyogo wasn’t simply told to stay for six more months and then sold in the summer.
Alternatively, if the policy is consistent across the board, then we should have gone into the window looking for two left-backs and a striker and made damn sure Taylor was off the books when the window shut.
Because none of this balances out. None of it adds up. Except for one thing—Kyogo fetched an eight-figure fee. Taylor never will.
Which would mean that, when all is said and done, we prioritised the balance sheet over the team sheet. Which a lot of people connected to Celtic are adamant isn’t what actually happened. Well, we can only judge what we can see in front of us.
Photo by ANP via Getty Images
Exactly. Taylor should be nowhere near the starting XI. What you have also failed to mention is that by refusing to sign a new contract is he has denied the club a transfer fee, so he is out there week in week out putting himself in the shop window at our expense while other players who have committed their future to the club are sitting on the bench or being sent out on loan. It’s not on and Brendan should be asked why as you say Taylor is a special case. Schlupp looks more than decent from what I’ve seen so far, let him start until the end of the season and decide if we want to offer him a contract.
I have a very different take on this. Taylor has played over 200 games and given us 6 years of loyal service, he is entitled to look for alternatives if he feels the club don’t value him high enough. It’s not the same as someone mid contract angling for a move, or a youth player moving before he has given anything to the club.
Taylor is the best left back available, if his levels remain consistent, he plays most weeks. He can leave at the end of his contract and we can all thank him for giving us his best on the pitch.
100% agree mate. If the rumours are true then it’s not Taylor’s commitment to Celtic that has been called into question, but Celtic’s commitment to Taylor. There’s no inconsistency if you take that into account.
He doesn’t bench Taylor because that would be cutting your nose off to spite your face. Plain and simple.
Taylor has not been respected by fans. He has given great service yet every mistake he makes is highlighted when other players get away with it. Even Calmac has started giving the ball away in big games but he gets away with it. AJ’s positioning can be horrific at times, but he’s a superstar. The whole defence is fragile. The worst Rangers team in a very long time put three past us weeks ago, we consistently lose schoolboy error goals in the CL but the only defenders who get it in the neck are Taylor and Scales. Trusty has a lot of convincing to do. Carter Vickers is probably too small for a CH at the top level, he does not command confidence in the air at set pieces. Greg Taylor must be sick of being singled out for the most flak. Feel sorry for the lad and don’t blame him if he goes. Rodgers wants him but that opinion is not good enough for a lot of fans.
It’s an interesting point, that’s a shame about Cummings, why not just announce it? I assume the main policy is to win and he must trust Taylor’s professionalism. I see no harm in making Schlupp first choice now though.
Brendan picks the team – The way it should be – End of story – Endgame !
Looks look like Taylor gonna be played and Schlupp as well but as you say it’ll be interesting to see how it all pans out at the end of our very enjoyable European run on Tuesday…
Like the look of Schulpp and hopefully he’ll possibly sign –
Looks like Taylor won’t be and that being the case he goes with my best wishes !
Agree with a lot of what’s been commented on here. Part of me thinks BR still thinks he can get him to stay given he continues to play but regardless of that it’s clear Taylor doesn’t have the talent of Kyogo but he’s has shown a commitment and service to the club beyond that of one with his limited ability and that of Kyogo. £10m has made a huge difference to the club’s decision no doubt.
Maeda, like CalMac, probably has an alternative position to that which he has constantly been selected and there’s a position in the team more suited to him as we’re starting to see. Like CalMac he shines where he’s played.
Taylor’s tea is oot when KT arrives, and he is disrespected by a large section of the fans and he knows both of these points. In such circumstances he probably feels the time is right to move, one last adventure that may or may not be successful but will be financially rewarding. There is selective bullying of certain players by some in our crowd, they have their favourites like Kyogo but as he proved that’s not necessarily reciprocated. If GT goes and it looks like it then we move forward with no regrets. If it’s about game time then good luck to him however he’ll be very very lucky to achieve anywhere what he’s achieved here.
The levels of criticism aimed at Taylor are very poor, in my honest opinion.
This is another subject that’s been debated ad nauseam, and I’ve continually expressed the view, that I hope he stays.
He’ll be fully aware of the mixed appreciation in our fanbase towards him, but maybe BR still believes he can get him to re-sign.
Whatever the outcome, the young man has given us great service and professionalism, and for me, deserves the requisite respect for that ! HH
Brendan has always had one weakness, his favorites. Watch his face light up when mention is made of say JF.
I think it is as others have said. Rodgers must believe Taylor is yet to make a decision. Once his decision is made then Rodgers will make his.
If he signs (I don’t think he will & I don’t think he should) then he will play until the end of the season & play back up to KT next season.
If he signs for someone else then he is on the bench for the remainder of the season. Schlupp starts & I wouldn’t be surprised if Scales did get used as a sub for LB so he continues to get game time without disrupting the building of the CB pairing.
I would think if Schlupp gets what it is to play for Celtic he will probably be pretty keen to sign for us & that would be my preference. Having KT & Schlupp next season is a huge upgrade over GT. I’ll never question his commitment to the club & efforts made for us but the simple fact is he is not of the skill Celtic need to kick on & compete at the top level.