Brendan Rodgers drops Celtic truth bomb that proves there are no 'side effects' from failed striker search
Brendan Rodgers watched Celtic demolish Dundee to storm 13 points clear with 13 games left to play - then insisted he was greedy for even better.
The Hoops smashed six past the Dens men to answer any fears they could be left light up top after failing to replace Kyogo Furuhashi in the January window. Daizen Maeda struck two brilliant second half goals in the space of four minutes while Arne Engels lso helped himself to a double. Adam Idah and sub Nicolas Kuhn also chipped in to send the Hoops 13 clear again at the top.
And to add to the party atmosphere Jota produced a brilliant 60-minute homecoming to add to his goalscoring debut against Motherwell on Sunday. Rodgers had played it cool over the Hoops failure to bring in a replacement for Kyogo - instead vowing to work with a develop what he’s got. And after watching wing kings Maeda and Kuhn take their tallies to 18 and 17 goals for the season Rodgers - who handed a debut to deadline day signing Jeffrey Schlupp off the bench - said: “It was one of our best performances of the season.
“We had hunger from the first minute to the last. Daizen's on 18 goals, a number of assists. Nicholas on 17 goals. I don't know how many assists but he's got a lot. Adam getting his goal and you see him now, he's moving differently and just freed up a bit and wanting to really prove a point and show that he's in number 9 here consistently for Celtic.
“I’m obviously greedy. I want more and I want to keep our levels, to keep improving because it's not just about each week and each month. It's each game we want to improve and be the best that we can.
“Thirteen games left, 13 points clear, a big goal difference, which is always worth a point in itself. I've always said it's really narrowing in the focus at this point of the season. Keep your hunger, keep your humility and keep thinking of performance.
“That was the message this evening. It's about winning and we know that, but it's about performing and when we perform we can play well and win games. So we're in a good place but modern day culture is all about the next game.”
Jota turned on the style in his first start since his return from Rennes while Idah took his tally to four goals in the last three games. And Rodgers said: “Adam’s always going to have to be patient here and obviously the nature of having a brilliant striker in Kyogo. He comes in and he has to fit around that but he still made big contributions.
“I think he's taken that responsibility now and he sees this as an opportunity because he knows it's something he has to produce and you have to produce consistently. I’d obviously seen Jota before from the outside looking in and then I've seen him train and work but he's a big player.
"So I can't wait for him to get up to the level in terms of that football fitness. He's missed a lot of football, hasn't played a great deal but he's a class act. The way he takes the ball, he has a lovely arrogance with the ball.
“But he's effective. He doesn't just look a good player, he is a good player. He can beat people and make a pass, make a cross, make a shot and he's a big talent.
Rodgers insists he’s now over over any disappointment over a failure to get a new striker in January. He said: “Listen, I'm not overthinking it. We knew what we wanted to do in January.
“It's closed now. It's gone, thank God, to this summer and we can just focus on the coaching and the development of the team. I think you see the response tonight. There's no side effects and that's what I said to you.
“I don't want to transfer any level of disappointment to the players because they've been brilliant. So I'm really excited about these next number of games. I’m not worrying about what we got or what we didn't get.”
