Late on Saturday night the Daily Record (Sunday Mail) was screaming about Kyogo Furuhashi needing surgery on his shoulder before the start of the SPFL season which is only two weeks away.
The most casual glance at the story revealed nothing of the sort. The striker has a well known shoulder injury, he managed it through last season during which he scored 34 goals.
Brendan Rodgers discussed the issue, admitted that surgery might be needed at some stage but the timing would be decided by the player.
Things were quickly watered down from the original headline, even at the Record they realised that they had over-egged it. Anyone putting a bet on Kyogo scoring against Ross County on August 5 isn’t likely to get odds of greater than 2/1.
Having drawn back from their shock horror coverage the Record returned to the story this morning, picking the brains of their sports reporters over who Celtic should sign to replace their crocked striker!
Neither Keith Jackson or Fraser Wilson were biting. Michael Gannon, covering Celtic in Japan was more adamant that the Daily Record had gone way over the top with the headlines attached to his story:
It doesn’t sound like an immediate priority and Kyogo seems comfortable playing on for now. It might be an issue down the line but Rodgers is not too concerned.
Kyogo dealt major Celtic injury blow as Brendan Rodgers reveals striker will undergo shoulder surgery | Michael Gannon in Japanhttps://t.co/wiRDqZDbOS pic.twitter.com/9PL0xvt68p
— Daily Record Sport (@Record_Sport) July 22, 2023
The Daily Record and The Sun are the only Scottish media organisations with Celtic in Japan, being granted special access to Rodgers after he has spoken to Japanese broadcasters and newspapers.
Today they have the thoughts of Rodgers on Liel Abada with one other story likely to be held back for Tuesday’s papers from the post-match interview on Saturday.
The need to cater for traditional media is becoming stranger and stranger with their diminishing audiences while Celtic have a variety of in-house channels to inform their supporters- directly without the need for over imaginative headlines.
Directly from the club there has barely been any news, no acknowledgement that Tony Ralston who played in Portugal hasn’t made it onto the trip to Japan.
There has been no update on the fitness of Cameron Carter-Vickers or Alistair Johnson. Their medical history doesn’t need to be given away but an update on where they are regards gym work would help, when they will be outdoors working on the grass and an approximate timeline for when they will rejoin the squad for training.
With fans left in the dark from inside the club the Record and Sun can ask those questions. Alongside news of Kyogo ‘needing surgery’ there was a line tucked away about Carter-Vickers and Ralston resuming full training, no mention of Johnston.
With the team returning to Scotland today Rodgers is likely to hold a media conference this week to promote Saturday’s match in Dublin against Wolves.
There is also the strong prospect of signings this week with accompanying announcements.
Rodgers could be involved in welcoming Maik Nawrocki to the club but the Korean duo of Yang Hyun-jun and Kwon Hyeok-kyu are less likely to be speaking, using an interpreter isn’t the best way of generating newsy headlines.
When Rodgers was unveiled as Celtic manager BBC Scotland and PLZ Soccer were left off the invite list, next week the club will be promoting the James Forrest Testimonial against Athletic Bilbao which would normally involve all media outlets.
That could be the opportunity to welcome back BBC and PLZ, with the SPFL starting on October 5 Celtic will be expected to provide BBC Scotland with exclusive pre and post match access to Rodgers, as they are contracted to do through the SPFL.
