Rodgers gives his verdict on Mikey Johnston

Brendan Rodgers has remained noncommittal about Mikey Johnston’s impact at West Brom, repeating the phrase ‘he is not a baby’.

Rodgers gave Johnston his debut in a post-split match against St Johnston during the invincible season nearly seven years ago.

The winger has had more lows and highs over the seasons, but his talent is undeniable, as evidenced by the quality of his goals in the Championship.

West Brom fans can’t believe their luck in signing a goal-scoring winger on transfer deadline day as they push hard for a spot in the EPL Play-offs.

Rodgers discussed the winger’s impact at West Brom, telling The Herald:

“Brilliant, I’ve said before about Mikey’s talent. He has been here a long time. Listen, the shirt is a different weight of shirt when you leave here but Mikey has always shown the talent.”

“He has had a number of years where he has picked up lots of injuries and he needed to get a run of games. I spoke to him in the summer when he was looking to go on loan, and I said stay and get your training right, because you’ve not had a period of training consistently never mind playing games.”

“He was able to do that, then he featured in some games for us, and once he trained and featured it was then about getting him game time. He has gone and done fantastic and shown the talent everyone knows he has.”

“Hopefully he continues with that and then we can look at it again in the summer.”

“He’s 24 years of age now, he’s not a baby, he is a boy who wants to play. He has lots of talent and you’ve seen that going down into the Championship. He’s scored some fantastic goals but it’s not a surprise. You see him in training, and he has that ability.”

“It’s all about the consistency and being fit and available. He’s shown that now over this part of the season and hopefully that continues until the end of the season at West Brom.”

Last month, Celtic’s winger options appeared to be running out, with Liel Abada sold and Nicolas Kuhn struggling to make an impact.

Yang Hyun-jun appears to have reached a new level since returning from the Asian Cup, while James Forrest has made an impact off the bench, and Kuhn is beginning to show some real class in addition to goals and assists.

This summer appears to be another period of significant change at Celtic, with little certainty about who will be in the manager’s plans for the new season.

In other news, Celtic’s summer tour schedule in the US has been revealed, along with the dates for their glamorous ties.