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Rodgers must brutally ditch £23k-p/w star to unleash Celtic’s “exceptional” whiz – opinion

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Celtic are back in top-flight action this afternoon as they prepare to welcome visitors St. Johnstone to Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership.

The Hoops come into this match off the back of a 4-2 win over Livingston in the SFA Cup, which secured a semi-final meeting with Aberdeen next month, last weekend.

Daizen Maeda scored a hat-trick for the Scottish giants to put the side 3-2 up before Kyogo Furuhashi came off the bench to make sure of the victory with the fourth goal.

Brendan Rodgers may now look to make some changes to the starting XI that lined up against Livingston, given that they are now back in league action. With that in mind, the Northern Irish boss must brutally ditch Adam Idah from the starting XI to make way for Kyogo to start.

Why Adam Idah should be dropped

The Norwich City loanee enjoyed a terrific start to his life in Glasgow with a return of five goals and one assist in his first six appearances in all competitions.

However, his last two outings for the Hoops have been less-than-impressive, as Idah failed to score or assist against Hearts and Livingston, in the Premiership and SFA Cup respectively.

His best chance against Livi came in the first half, with the score at 1-1, as Alistair Johnston’s deflected cross reached the centre-forward but he could not direct his effort beyond the body of veteran Michael McGovern in goal.

Whereas, the £23k-per-week forward had plenty of opportunities to find the back of the net in the 2-0 defeat to Hearts. He missed a penalty in the 13th minute, with his weak effort blocked by Zander Clark, and missed another ‘big chance’ later in the match.

With zero goals, zero assists, and two ‘big chances’ missed in two games, Rodgers must brutally ditch the Canaries academy graduate, despite his strong start to life in Scotland, and replace him with Kyogo today.

Why Kyogo should start for Celtic

The Japan international has not been at his very best this season but his form has picked up in recent weeks and he should be rewarded with a start against St. Johnstone.

Kyogo averaged a goal every 86 minutes – 27 in 31 starts – in the Premiership last term, but has only averaged one every 213 minutes – nine in 23 starts – during the 2023/24 campaign.

23/24 Premiership Kyogo Furuhashi
Appearances 29
Starts 23
Goals 9
Big chances missed 15
Pass accuracy 66%
Stats via Sofascore

However, the 29-year-old marksman has plundered three goals in his last 304 minutes of action in all competitions – across the last six matches – which works out as a goal every 101 minutes on average.

He came off the bench to get on the scoresheet against Livingston last time out as he brilliantly timed his run to get on the end of James Forrest’s flick-on to clinically find the bottom left corner of the goal in stoppage-time.

The Celtic whiz, who was once described as “exceptional” by teammate Joe Hart, has been in good goalscoring form of late, despite his seasonal struggles, and Rodgers should reward that by bringing him in from the start ahead of Idah, who has blanked in the last two matches, this afternoon.

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