Yahoo Sport 
Greg Taylor new Celtic contract stance made clear by Brendan Rodgers as boss issues 'plan and prepare' warning
Brendan Rodgers has warned that he expects Celtic to get even better after their Champions League dismantling of RB Leipzig.
The Hoops boss dubbed the 3-1 victory over the Bundesliga giants as his best night in Europe across two spells in charge at Parkhead. But he insists there’s still plenty of room for improvement as his side prepare to return to Premiership action away to Kilmarnock on Sunday.
Rodgers, who confirmed he wants to tie Alistair Johnston down on a new deal with Record Sport revealing talks are well down the road, also made clear his desire to extend Greg Taylor’s contract before the full-back is free to talk to other clubs in January. The 27-year-old is seen as a key man of Rodgers plans for the future. And it’s a future that he hopes will see levels rise again on Tuesday’s Leipzig bashing.
READ MORE:Dominant Celtic duo posted 'missing' at Lennoxtown as Rodgers set to address their status
He said: “That's always been my mantra with working with teams and, more importantly, working with individuals. No matter what the scorelines we’re winning by, we still have a duty to develop players. So I know that the players will continue to develop. You can't underestimate the confidence that a win like that the other night and the performance in Atalanta in a different way, what that brings to you.
"And I think for the players, just the level was so high with and without the ball and that gives us great confidence going forward. But there's still lots of improvements that the team can make, and the individuals can make and will make over the coming months.”
Rodgers reckons the Leipzig lashing was a performance 16 months in the making. He said: “From Saturday’s performance and getting to the League Cup final was a real statement win for us domestically. But then to go into a game of that magnitude against that level of opponent, I've heard it talked about a generational game, which I couldn't argue with.
“The performance level, it's something that we've been working towards for the last 12 to 16 months. Obviously, going back to last season, our performances against Atletico Madrid and away in Feyenoord when we lost. I know that people purely only look at the score, but for me, it's about the process and the build-up to that. And even partly, the Borussia Dortmund game plays a part in that. We started off the Champions League really, really well, three really good performances out of the four.
“But the other night, it made me so proud just watching the team and the level of the team and how aggressive we were with and without the ball against a genuine top side. We've been waiting probably as a club and a support base for a performance like that for a while. It's not just to perform, but to win and perform to that level.
“And we want to sustain that. And I think we've shown in three of the four games in the Champions League that we're actually a good side. We know we've got a lot of work to do. Our first aim is to make the playoffs and that's still very much the case.”
Record Sport revealed full back Johnston is close to agreeing a new deal on Friday. Rodgers would only say: ”Hopefully, in the future, that can be the case.”
But he was clear on Taylor, who will enter the final six months of his contract in January. He said: “You see his importance to our game the other night. We play Alex [Valle] in the semi-final and he does fantastically well.
“Tuesday night was a different game. So I can bring then Greg in and you see the level that he played at, how clean he was, how bright he was, how well he defended, how well he attacked.
“So he's clearly obviously someone I see as a big part of what we're looking to continue here and I hope over the coming months that we can do that. There does come a point where both sides, we have to understand what we're thinking, because if it's not going to happen, then OK..
“We can then plan and prepare going forward. But I really hope it doesn't get to that because I love working with Greg Taylor.
“He's played, what, about 186 games here. I can't tell you how influential he is off the pitch and how good he's been on the pitch for this club, the consistency and also how we play.
“Both our full-backs are absolutely critical for us and how we operate, and they have two totally different functions and how they work. Greg is a specialist in what he does for us and you see the flow of the team. I watched the game the other night. RB Leipzig pressing me four players. We're getting five in our build-up. We've got different solutions to get through.
“He's a massive part of that. So, I really hope that we can do something. Plus, I really, really like him. He's such a good guy. He loves being here. He's a big voice in the changing room. Every single day in training, he's so good. He's focused. He's just married. He'll be a father later on in the year as well.
“So, we want him to really settle down and get everything ready for him. I just want to continue working with him for as long as I possibly can.”
