Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praised the influence of Callum McGregor as the Hoops skipper was influential in the 2-0 win over Hibs at Easter Road.
McGregor netted a sumptuous goal, Celtic’s second of the afternoon, and pulled the strings on a day when Hibs toiled to lay a glove on the Parched side.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke was in attendance with Rodgers insisting that the national team’s loss is Celtic’s gain after the midfielder announced his international retirement this week with McGregor’s display a reminder of just what he will be missing.
“He was brilliant,” said Rodgers. “That’s what happens when you retire from Scotland!
“Hopefully there are many more goals to come. I’ve managed him in so many games, over the two spells here now. I know his quality. I know his game inside out.
“It doesn’t surprise me. He’s scored so many goals for me, especially in the first spell, then a few this spell. 25-30 yards out, it was a wonderful strike. That’s what you need in your team and he possesses quality.
“I think any successful team has the spirit and the energy, that’s what you want your players to be able to do [track back] and he typifies that so well. But everyone has to do it, not just Cal. I think today, when you keep clean sheets in a game, it means everyone’s working, everyone’s together, everyone’s synchronised. But when it’s led by your captain, it’s a great example.
“He’s played so many games, hasn’t he? I think when I give Cal a few days off on international breaks, he’ll relish it. I think he’s getting into his stage of his career.
“I do feel for Steve because he’s a quality player, of course. But from a Celtic perspective, for longevity, for him, his career, his recovery. There’s so many games now, it’s a 12-month season. For him to get these little periods of recovery, to recover and rest, will be important for him. He got no winter break this year either.
“He’s such an intense player for me on and off the pitch. Those little windows where you can give him that breather will do him the word of good.”
And while Rodgers was effusive about the first-half performance of his side as Nicolas Kuhn set out their stall with a third minute goal, he has insisted that there is still more to come from his side.
“Easter Road is one of the toughest places to come in Scottish football, so I thought we managed the game very well,” he said. “We made a great start, which you want. We scored two very good goals and we were really slick in other moments in the game.
“In the second half, we just had a little spell where the game became too long for us. We didn’t shorten the game how we normally do and play quickly through the lines, so it got stretched a wee bit too much for my liking. But we always had control of the game. If I was nitpicking, I would say we have to be more clinical. We scored two and again could have had four or five. So the creative side’s there, balance was really good in the team and it’s a very good win for us.
“I see a Celtic team. A Celtic team that’s aggressive. A Celtic team that in my time here has always attacked well and pressed well. That’s the nature of how we want to go into the next game. That’s the philosophy of going into the next game, making it a special game and for us to make it special, we have to attack and press the game well.
“So, yes, there’s a lot of what I see I really, really like. We always, always want to improve. But the biggest combination I see that makes me really happy – and it’s the combination you want as a manager – is to have the winning attitude and quality. That’s what you want in your team and I think we’ve seen that in lots of spells of the game and especially in Callum’s goal, which was absolutely brilliant.”
Kyogo Furuhashi needed his shoulder popped back in during the game with Rodgers satisfied with the striker’s performance despite the lack of a goal.
“I’ve said it before, I don’t need him to be scoring 40 goals,” said the Celtic manager. “But he is involved. Absolutely. It took him a little bit of time probably to understand for me that it’s not always about being on the last line. For me, I want him to play the space rather than the position.
“We all know he can go into depth, like we see in the first goal. But the modern game, especially when you have man-to-man marking, creates that possibility on the inside.And we see that.
“If your midfielders are creating the space, then the obvious pass is through the middle. But you need the striker to be available, not always running away from the ball. I think he’s playing the space really well. He’s running in behind, he’s coming short, he’s linking it. He should have scored today. But he’s playing really, really well.
“His shoulder popped out. I think it’s just one of those ones that, he had a fall and it knocked it out. The guys put it back in again, but he felt the soreness. I don’t need to risk him.”
The issues with Kyogo rates the issue of Celtic’s slim striking option with Rodgers reiterating that work is ongoing as the final weeks of the transfer window loom.
“We know what we need,” he said. “We’ve always known what we need. My focus is really with the players who are here. Hopefully we can strengthen the squad over the coming weeks. There are other players who can go in and play that position. And that’s what we have to do while we’re waiting for players to come in.”
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