Brendan Rodgers was left unimpressed with the performance of Mikey Johnston after Celtic earned a 4-1 win against Hibernian at Celtic Park on Wednesday night (6 December).
The 24-year-old winger has struggled for regular games this season. Rodgers promised ahead of the fixture that he would give chances to fringe players to prove a point, and it can be said that Johnston didn’t make the best use of the opportunity.
The Bhoys attacking midfielder started the game and was taken off at the hour mark after failing to make an impact during the game.
After the match, Rodgers told BBC Sport that Johnston “needs to do more”, and that’s the reality at the moment. The club expects him to make more impact, and he is certainly not delivering that.
Rodgers further added that Johnston is 24, and definitely can’t be called a young player anymore.
“Mikey needs to do more. That’s the reality. He is a big talent, we need more impact from him,” said Rodgers.
“He’s not young, he’s 24. At some point he has to grab the bull by the horns”.
Spot on
Johnston impressed in the cameo performance against St Johnstone in the previous game, and Rodgers decided to gave him a chance against Hibs.
He spent last season on loan with Portuguese side Vittoria Guimaraes and returned to Parkhead in the summer. Celtic have a strong squad and Rodgers has made it clear that he is looking to bring in more quality players in the next few transfer windows in order to compete with big boys in the Champions League.
Johnston is a quality player, no doubt, but he needs to do more, in terms of output. Rodgers has described him as a “big talent”, but he is not showing signs that he can be a key player for this club for years to come. At this age, he should be scoring goals, providing assists, and playing regularly for the first team.
It was a big opportunity for him to show his quality, and he probably wasted it.
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