Greg Taylor in action during the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star
“In terms of that role, that inverted position, that is as good as I have seen that played last week”
The manager revealed his previous comments regarding Taylor’s circumstance and how he thought the Scot would be leaving were based on his previous exposure to these sorts of situations. “I was talking through my experience of being in this situation before numbers of times with numbers of players,” he explained.
“I am hoping this is one of these ones which can maybe go on longer and doesn’t go the other way because normally in this situation it feels that way. But I think you see from Greg’s performance last week. He was absolutely so good. In terms of that role, that inverted position, that is as good as I have seen that played last week.
Greg Taylor arrives at Celtic Park. Celtic v Kilmarnock, Scottish Premiership, 12 April 2025. IMAGO Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock
“You are playing against teams that are man-to-man, so you need to have mobility in your team, you need to have players who can find space, be clever, know when to be inside, when to be outside. That is the nature of how we play.
“He is such a fantastic player, but he is more than that”
“He is such a fantastic player, but he is more than that. He is not just a great footballer for the way we play and the system that we play, he is very instrumental off the field. He has got a big personality in the changing room, his character fits this club. Why? Because he is up for every single game, I mean every single game, whether it is RB Leipzig at home, where he was absolutely brilliant, or an away game, he is up for every game.”
James Forrest back in training, photo Celtic FC
Rodgers also insisted that it’s the intangibles which make Greg such a useful part of the club, continuing: “He is in tune with what being a Celtic player is about. If you look at Jamesy [Forrest], look at Callum [McGregor], look at these guys, they live with the expectation, they live with the feeling and what the demands are of this club. And Greg lives that feeling as well as a Celtic player.
“If you going to commit you are committing for four or five years”
“So there is so much more to him than his game, but his game is perfect for how we work and how we play, which is why I want to keep him here. Listen, he knows how we all feel about him here. It is a big decision at 27. If you going to commit you are committing for four or five years. You are pretty much saying this is your big contract here.”
Paul Gillespie
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