8 Brendan Rodgers Celtic presser takeaways as Kyogo injury addressed and star 'will be worth much more in two years'

Brendan Rodgers has confirmed Kyogo is a doubt for the weekend's clash with Hibs after damaging his shoulder.

The striker went off at Easter Road last weekend with the persisting issue coming to the fore again after an innocuous fall as he chased a pass. Rodgers has revealed he and the club's medical staff will keep an eye on the Japanese striker and make a late call on the decision as to whether or not he'll be involved.

The Celtic boss, however, now has Adam Idah in the door who can act as his direct strike replacement and he spoke about the fee paid for the Irishman as well as other transfer issues.

Football Scotland picked out the main takeaways from his presser...

Kyogo and Alistair Johnston fitness?

Yeah, Alistair Johnston will be fine for Sunday, Kyogo we’ll just have to have a look at tomorrow.

No away fans on derby day

I’m clearly disappointed for both sets of supporters because it’s been a long time since there was a decent allocation for both clubs. It’s not complicated, I believe there was an agreement in place to carry out work to ensure that the clubs are in place to allow supporters to come. Celtic have been working on that for a number of months, and I know the work and investment that’s gone into it to ensure that everything was right for this fixture. You can only do that if the agreement is upheld by both. If you cannot guarantee that, then sadly we are not able to open the gates for away supporters. I think the statement was for the next two games, so fingers crossed that after that we’ll see fans back in place for the final games.

I think the board have made a really good decision, in terms of the club’s job to protect the support. If there is not that guarantee come the second fixture, then it’s only logical that you wouldn’t reciprocate. I think Celtic have played their part in what there has to be done, and I go back and say nothing of this was Celtic’s issue. Nothing. When you go back to when this all started, it’s nothing to do with Celtic. Celtic gets dragged into this here as being a Celtic-Rangers thing. It’s not a Celtic-Rangers thing - it’s a Rangers thing. Celtic when they’re asked to have this agreement and make the stadium safe, we ploughed the money in and the work started months ago. Like I said, on both parties it hasn’t been agreed. it’s not complicated. Good faith, or however you want to put it, there’s still an agreement for both, and it’s still not done. It’s not great faith if we allow Rangers supporters in when our supporters can’t get in. It’s not good faith. I think that the agreement has not been upheld, so Celtic rightly have to defend their supporters and the club. Sadly, Rangers supporters miss out on this game and Celtic fans in the return game. Let’s hope that after that, we can find a way to get the supporters in.

People questioning Adam Idah fee?

You can never win, can you? You don’t spend money, you do spend money or you spend too much money. We’ve got a great deal, and I know the player that we have here. It’s just the case of getting him moving in the direction that I believe he can get to. He has all the talent, 6 foot 3, quick and strong, his touch is good and he can score goals. Like I said, he has big moments in big games. For me, there are still areas where he can improve, of course, but you expect that as a young player. I do think whatever money we paid for him, he’s worth every single penny of it. He’ll be worth a lot more than that in 24 months' time.

More business like Idah in window?

I think for supporters and you look at it from their perspective then what they want from the club is two things. One, is your club well run? So, there is no doubt that Celtic is super well run as a club. The organisation is very good. Two, supporters want to have the best team possible on the pitch. That allows them to skip back to each game and be really excited about watching their team. I always think that's the challenge. That is our challenge. To get to the end of this window and have the very best team that we can possibly have on the field. That's what we want. That's what the Celtic supporters want. Hopefully, we can do that. I say hope, I want us to be able to do that.

You can sign a player for one or two million and you might sell them for 10 million. You can buy a player at seven or eight million and sell him for thirty or forty million. It's the same thing. It is all about trusting the process and the team of people who work really hard and allow me to get the players in. The Celtic supporters are deserving of that. What they invest worldwide in this team in terms of merchandise and everything is incredible. It is our duty to try and get the best team we possibly can on the field. That inspires them to come and watch their team. That's what we try to do with the style of football that we play but that will always be elevated by the level of player that you have. That is our notion over the final weeks of the window to look to have a really strong team.

Do club need to sell before buying?

I don't think so. Financially we are in a really good place. The sale of anyone doesn't have to determine what we do. I have said before we don't want to lose Matt O'Riley. I still believe we need to strengthen in certain areas and we have the resources to do that. Selling players won't determine what we can bring in. We need to improve the squad. That is separate from the guys that are here because they have been absolutely brilliant. They have been great for me. We have connected and it has been great. You always have to look to improve and there are certain gaps in our squad where we are light in terms of numbers, cover and competition. So that is what we have to work very hard to try and achieve by the end of the window.

Can you replace O'Riley if he's sold before window closes?

Well listen, it's not a secret. It's the model of the club. In some ways, it's great that players can come here and prove and develop. We'd love them to be able to stay for 5-10 years. But sadly that's not in the modern game. I do however think it shows that you're doing something really right by bringing a player in, developing and improving them, and then he grows to a level where his ability allows him to go on and earn much, much more than what he can earn here. That's fine, I think everyone accepts that, but the next bit's crucial: getting that pipeline in place that allows the next one to come in and then that allows you to freely understand if a player moves on, but you can then bring in the replacement straight away or have them here before they leave.

Is recruitment up to par?

I think we need to improve that – but the department and the people that are here are absolutely fantastic. The work they've put in over the course of the summer and going back over the months and being so diligent covered many games travelled out to games, they've done so much work on that front.

But it's still an area I think that we can review the window and see where, like every area, where we can improve it. And I said it, I think it was last week, that recruitment is key, alongside your playing, management and coaching staff. Because as I said, if you don't get that right, there can be very costly mistakes. So for us, it's a constant look at it where we can develop and improve it. But the guys that have been here, they've worked ever so hard going through the various options and availability of players to try and help us.

Mikey Johnston future?

I'm open at the moment in terms of where things are at, I gave Mikey his debut back and and when he was 18 and played him. So we've got a good relationship and we talk openly. I think he's at the stage where he'll probably want to play more. But he's worked hard over pre-season and put himself in a really good position. There are some clubs that have shown interest in him, but we'll see what happens over the next couple of weeks.