Kyogo’s style of play could hardly be more different to Giakoumakis but in this year in that fixture the former Vissel Kobe man has become the dominant figure.
In the most testing of circumstances Rodgers came up with a way to win, his delight after the match told you everything about the importance of today’s result.
No-one knows the ability of Kyogo better than Ange Postecoglou who put his faith in the Vissel Kobe winger to replace the goals of Odsonne Edouard as he rebuilt the Celtic team, almost from scratch
Anyone that watches the Celtic duo knows that they are a cut above players that are routinely traded around the EPL for £20-30m.
There seemed to be a real lethargy about some of the early play, McGregor was losing his midfield battles while Taylor looked as if he had overdone it in the warm up.
Pat Nevin’s book is called ‘The Accidental Footballer’, but he’s suffering from some kind of accidental memory loss.
Reo Hatate had the biggest assist possible in the 1-1 draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk but that incident where he was almost credited with a goal summed up Celtic’s luck in the Champions League. Bad luck.
Rather than feel sorry for himself or angle for a transfer to a more high profile league, Kyogo raised his game to another level to finish the season with 34 domestic goals.
With Kyogo signing, I’ve always had a striker at the top of the pitch with pace and for me he’s absolutely perfect.
First time around Brendan Rodgers transformed the careers of half a dozen players including Tom Rogic, James Forrest, Mikel Lustig, Stuart Armstrong, Scott Brown and Callum McGregor.