Yes, Rodgers can rightly point to the injury issues that we have sustained across the campaign, and he and others would point to a poor January transfer window that in no way helped alleviate those ‘more important’ gaps when it came to the 51 year old’s first team selection options.

But we all know we had a good advantage at the top of the table and we, for whatever reason that can be used as an excuse, let it slip and we were left very recently in the position of trying to play catch up. In some ways we left ourselves needing a 3 way handicap betting explained, when the Scottish Premiership is rarely a 3 way affair.

With Rodgers being insistent that the season was not over yet, we did just that and with our victory over St Johnstone last weekend, we again find ourselves in top spot in the table – but the margin is narrow, however, it potentially gives us a small mental advantage once again and we absolutely have to maximise that and make it count during the run in to the end of the year.

Whilst the eyes of Hoops fans naturally remain on this campaign, Celtic themselves do need to continue looking forward to the coming 2024/25 season, and Monday afternoon saw quite a major announcement when it came to our pre season plans for the new campaign.

As the business end of the season looms there are definitely quite a few unknowns given the games that remain, but fans now know that we will be returning to the United States of America and we will be facing English Premier League side Chelsea in one of our warm up encounters.

We will face off against current manager, Mauricio Pochettino’s, ridiculously expensively assembled side on July 27 at the utterly iconic Notre Dame Stadium – some will know it is the home field of the University’s famed Fighting Irish football team.

The clash against the Stamford Bridge outfit will be the final game of a three match tour over on American soil, and despite their struggles in more recent seasons (ownership, managerial, spending on players who continue to fail to find any form that is acceptable to their fans), whilst they currently sit in eleventh place in the Premier League table, this will be a major test for Rodgers and our Celtic boys as their quality cannot be underestimated even if they have again failed to click properly this season.

After the struggles that we have faced this campaign, it is a game that could well prove to be incredibly important when it comes to mental strength and a desire to be greater, and allow us to make a far bigger statement in our own domestic (and European) campaigns in 2024/25.

The game is obviously quite a way off right now, and we need to know who our other opponents will be, whilst learning what the full pre season programme is, but it is a tie, for all the obvious reasons, that Hoops fans (particularly those in the United States, and those who can afford to take in a football holiday during the summer months) will be absolutely relishing.

Who can blame them in a 77,000 capacity bowl that should be absolutely rocking, and it has, of course, been a full ten years since we were last Stateside and that will only fuel the imagination of more local fans.

What will tantalise fans even further is we also know our trip across the Atlantic Ocean will take in the US capital of Washington DC and North Carolina – so opposition potential is endless.

We can assume Chelsea will definitely be the headline clash though.

The 23 year old former Japanese Under 20 international centre half agreed to move to Parkhead back in November 2022, and his deal went through the following January transfer window, and under former gaffer Ange Postecoglou, he made six starts and one substitute appearance across all competitions.

However, since the return of Brendan Rodgers, the player is yet to feature for a single minute and he appears to be that far down the pecking order – even allowing for the injuries that have hit the squad in our more problematic 2023/24 domestic Scottish campaign – that he has very much become quite the forgotten man. You could have taken all 50 spins at https://gamblenator.com/au/free-spins/50-free-spins and you probably would not have been able to predict this turn in his fortunes.

If the reports are true and we have blocked a move than would see him return to his homeland and the J-League, the only educated guess to make is it is squarely down to the players that are out of contention and sitting on the side lines, and Rodgers simply does not fancy reducing our numbers any further before the end of the campaign as we look to re-establish ourselves at top spot in the Scottish Premiership and plenty of fans who like a flutter would take a few free pokies at us doing just that.

Kashima Antlers could well come back with another offer as their domestic transfer window remains open right now, but despite his lack of game time this season, it is not the first time we have blocked a potential departure. He has previously attracted interest from Finnish side HJK and Major League Soccer sides Dallas and Real Salt Lake.

The chances of any deal being done will ultimately boil down to whether or not our current injury situation shows signs of easing, as although Rodgers has had his issues with the performances of the team this season, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada’s lengthy spells with injury certainly have not helped our chances. And of course, since then Abada has now moved on to the MLS due to other issues having barely kicked a ball in anger this term.

In terms of good news, it is fully expected that Cameron Carter-Vickers will return to training in today’s sessions with an eye to returning to the pitch in the clash against St Johnstone on Saturday, and as we all know, he has been a massive miss for us and in his 21 appearances this year, we have looked a far stronger unit when he has been in the back line.

If he can prove his fitness and not fall down to another niggly injury now, it might give us the room to move Kobayashi on, as he clearly is not in our plans.

As things stand, Celtic are second-favourites to Rangers in the title race, and the biggest odds to win today are around 11/8 on their championship. But there’s one player in particular, who could help the Hoops defy the chances and power successfully through the playoffs.

That’s Matt O’Riley who has been a dynamo from midfield this season. He already produced his best returns for the club since his move to Parkhead in 2021. Can he continue to be the driving force behind the Cetlic’s title challenge?

Weight on Young Shoulders

23-year-old O’Riley has a lot of weight on his shoulders. Now something is expected of the young lad every time he touches the ball, or makes a marauding run towards the penalty box. But there haven’t been any signs of his output slowing.

He was off the mark in the season opener with a goal and an assist against Ross County. In early March when an early red card for Hyun-Jun Yang in just the 16th minute, played a part in Celtic’s 2-0 downfall at Tynecastle, O’Riley was already sitting on 11 goals for the league campaign.

That made him the club’s top scorer in the Premiership and it also put him just two behind centre forward Kyogo Furuhashi’s tally in all competitions this season.

The Run in

With four matches to go before the split, Celtic will be hoping to be sat in the driving seat going into the final push. The big clash in that run-in to the split is their trip to Ibrox on April 7th, which will have the feel of being an early title decider on the day.

Celtic have already claimed a 1-0 win there this season, and a repeat of that scoreline would be more than good enough for the Hoops. It’s not just the psychological edge that would give Celtic over their rivals in going into the playoffs as the leaders, but also momentum for that final quarter of the season.

Celtic’s Final Four

●     St Johnstone (h)

●     Livingston (a)

●     Ranger (a)

●     St Mirren (h)

That’s a mixed bag of fixtures for the Hoops to handle. Two against current bottom-four teams (St Johnstone, Livingston) and two against current top-four teams (Rangers, St Mirren).

The Split and Beyond

Can Matt O’Riley carry them through that? It’s unfair to hinge a club’s title ambitions on just one player, but if there’s one person at the club right now, they are hinging on, it’s Riley. Their title hopes hang on him not letting his performance levels slip from where they are at.

Every Celtic fan at this point is fearing an injury to the midfielder as any loss of playing time would leave a hole too great to fill in trying to reach the title. It’s been 11 goals in 28 league appearances from him.

That’s a goal every two and a half games, so the stats project at least another four to five from him before the end of the full season. But the assists too have been so valuable, with nine in 28 matches and he’s quickly become the complete package.

Another Youngster in the Wings

Interestingly there is another young lad who could yet have a huge splash in Celtic’s title bid. That’s the on-loan Adam Idah who is at Parkhead until the end of the season. Five goals in six Premiership appearances has been a phenomenal output from him since his move in early February.

He missed some big chances in that loss to Hearts, but it’s hard to knock his impact overall. Idah’s arrival is just what Celtic needed at this stage of the season, something a little different up top that opposing defences haven’t come up against. It’s a great new element that could have profound benefits down the line.

What Next?

Celtic got themselves a bargain in Matt O’Riley for €1.80m from the MK Dons. That would equate to €0.90m per league title, an absolute snap in today’s market. But before Big Ange made the swoop for the midfielder, there were already sharks circling.

English Premier League and Championship clubs were tracking O’Riley and you can sense a big bid coming from south of the border. That’s what success brings.

In January Celtic reportedly kicked an €18 million offer from Atletico Madrid off the table. But if Celtic can hang on to him beyond this season, then they have the heart of their midfield set for seasons and potentially league titles, to come.

Following a home draw with Kilmarnock that left them two points adrift of Rangers, Brendan Rodgers’ side has felt the absence of the American defender, conceding three goals in the last four matches.

Carter-Vickers has resumed training at Lennoxtown without any further complications this week, setting the stage for a potential inclusion in the crunch tie at Fir Park.

His comeback could not be timelier, as Celtic look to fortify a backline that has appeared vulnerable in recent outings.

The Celtic manager faces a decision on whether to reintegrate Carter-Vickers immediately into a starting XI that has seen Stephen Welsh and Liam Scales partner in defence during his injury spell.

Carter-Vickers’ presence in the squad alone could inspire confidence, injecting much-needed solidity and experience as Celtic enter a critical phase of the season. With the title race intensifying, his availability for selection against Motherwell could be the catalyst Celtic need to reassert their championship credentials.

As the weekend approaches, all eyes will be on Rodgers’ lineup decision, with Celtic supporters hopeful that Carter-Vickers’ return can spark a turnaround in fortunes for the Hoops.

Brendan Rodgers will likely give more insight at his prematch press conference the balance has to be can Cameron play against Motherwell with club doctors confident he can come through it ok.

This was clearly not what the 51 year old gaffer wanted when he returned to Parkhead for a second time and looked to repeat his initial success.

Right now, Celtic are struggling – we all know that, something is missing and it is not clicking in the way it should and it is not as easy as finding an app for the answers – and the reasons for those could well be laid at recruitment issues, and Rodgers himself might need to shoulder expectation and complacency problems, as should the first team squad themselves, because we have drawn too many games already that should have been victories had we properly pushed on and killed them off.

Whilst we continue to debate what other moves we could have made in the January window, one player has actually become a stand out now, but not necessarily for the reasons you would think.

The former Aston Villa, Everton and Ajax player is currently a free agent following a falling out with German Bundesliga side Mainz over a message on social media expressing support for Palestine. After a bit of toing and froing, ultimately the club cancelled his contract.

With the latest display by the Green Brigade showing support for innocent Palestinian’s caught up in the ongoing battle between Israel and Hamas, the 28 year old two capped Dutch international winger offered to play for the club for free for the remainder of the 2023/24 season, but whether or not Brendan Rodgers and the club thought that this might be a goer, FIFA rules have slammed the door on a deal being concluded before the start of the summer.

El Ghazi did have a pretty impressive spell with Aston Villa, and whilst he does have his limitations as a wide man, he more than played his part in them gaining promotion from the Championship, and then a role in them staying there and beginning to push up the table, and he created, or scored, some very important goals for them during that period. In his one season with PSV Eindhoven in the 2022/23 campaign saw him contribute eight goals in 24 appearances for them, so even with limitations, once of his main strengths for Celtic could well have been his eye for goal and his ability to play through the middle as a straight goal threat.

His background in the English Premier League certainly peaked the interest of a number of Hoops fans, particularly in light of the ongoing media speculation and the rumours that surround the potential future of Israeli winger Liel Abada given the current, hugely unfortunate, circumstances.

The US Major League Soccer option seems to be the favourite likely destination for the player if the rumour mill is to be believed, especially as clubs in America are still able to sign overseas players until April 23 – however, current rules stipulate that El Ghazi could not be a like for like replacement this term.

As unfortunate as it is for El Ghazi, who effectively sees his career stalled for a few months, he made a three minute cameo for PSV in the Eredivisie before securing the move to Mainz, and his two appearances for them means he ticks the box that stipulates whilst a player can be registered for three clubs in a single season, they can only play official matches for two of them.

He will not be the first player to fall foul like this, and nor will he be the last unless FIFA tweak their rules, but if Celtic do have an interest, a proper deal could be negotiated at Parkhead come the summer and the end of the season. If El Ghazi was effectively ‘happy to play for free’ – whilst he would not be in first team contention, he could certainly use a portion of the second half of the campaign to settle in at the club, make friends and begin building an understanding with his new team mates, and he would definitely be in the right physical state to hit our next pre season campaign running.

It would simply take an invite for him to train with us, and we would not be the first club to make full use of that.

Concerningly, this isn’t the first time that the Bhoys have been guilty of delivering a lethargic display against inferior opposition and subsequently paying the price by passing up two precious points – as theguardian.com further outlines here.

Furthermore, Celtic are entering the stage of the season where every point dropped could lead to severe consequences as the fixture list begins to whittle down. The one positive is that there is currently enough time to ensure that Rangers don’t leapfrog Celtic into first.

Staving off this scenario, however, might mean that Brendan Rodgers takes the advice he recently issued to Celtic’s board.

Talking the talk but not walking the walk

The Northern Irishman was wary of apportioning all of the blame for Celtic’s uninspiring January transfer window to the Parkhead board. However, he did suggest, as yahoo.com reports here, that they would need to be braver in the future when it comes to recruitment. The validity of Rodgers’ comments to one side, the irony is that a bit more bravery on the field could help snap Celtic out of the dangerous malaise they find themselves in.

Too often, the Hoops are at fault for going sideways when trying to break teams down instead of throwing caution to the wind by getting runners behind the opposition’s defence. This laboured approach often allows the opposition to grow into the game and take confidence the longer the match remains goalless.

Indeed, Celtic might be happy to bide their time during the build-up play but so are the opposition who see an opportunity in getting behind the ball and waiting for a counter-attack or set piece. Essentially, by not taking the game to the rest of the league, Celtic are sleepwaking into second place.

From dead and buried to odds-on to win the SPL

After all, Rodgers’ team did at one stage enjoy a seven-point lead over Rangers. Now, somewhat incredibly, both Celtic and Rangers find themselves priced at 5/6 to win the league.

It doesn’t have to be panic stations just yet and optimistic Celtic fans who feel that Rodgers has the know-how to guide the Bhoys to their 54th league title can access a host of generous welcome offers at freebets.com.

In some instances, supporters can claim as much as £40 in free bets from bookmakers such as talkSPORT BET and BetVictor which can be used on the outright winner market of the Scottish Premiership. Without a change of mindset though, the inescapable truth is that Celtic will battle to keep Rangers at arm’s length during the title run-in.

Take the fight to the opposition or brace for impact

In essence, Rodgers needs to take the handbrake off by allowing his players to once again assume responsibility when in possession as they did under Ange Postecoglou. Bolder actions on the ball will undoubtedly lead to an increased tempo in the opposition’s final third which, as seen last season, can make all the difference between one and three points.

Whether Rodgers admits that his second coming at Celtic Park has grown stale remains to be seen but by not injecting a breath of fresh air into the tactics on matchday, he is taking the risk of doing the unthinkable by surrendering the league title to Rangers.