Daizen Maeda of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Q: Do you feel he earned an improvement?
Brendan Rodgers: “There’s no doubt. There’s absolutely no doubt. He earns every penny. And we feel as a club he deserves more. So we want to do that. But of course it has to work both ways.”
Q: Is there a case where a footballer is just a good fit for a certain club as well? Maybe some other players, like you say, look to move away for a change and it doesn’t work out as well. Is that something you can stress to players sometimes?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, but sometimes you don’t realise that until you’re gone, sadly. I think we’ve seen it. And also what I know from my own personal experience in moving away is that you sometimes will feel that you’re going to a better league or better wages or whatever it is. But the adulation you get as a Celtic player is unrivalled. What they feel when they’re here, very, very many of them don’t ever get that again. And that’s part of the loss. You go away, you’ll earn more money, you’ll play in maybe a top league. But you don’t quite get that feeling that you would get here. Sometimes, you don’t know that as a player until you’ve gone. But at this moment in time, I’m so happy he is here and he’s consistently playing so well. And hopefully he can finish off a great season for him and the team and finish well.”
Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic, looks on prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Q: What about Hearts? How difficult do you feel they will be?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, I think it will be a really good game. I think after a really difficult start for Hearts this season, they’ve obviously moved up the table well, Neil has settled in well. And now they’re up in that top six and they want to stay there. So, yes, I think it will be a really difficult game for us. They’ve moved to a diamond in their structure and how they’re playing. I haven’t played a diamond before myself. I know that gives you attacking options in the game. So we have to respect that quality. But for me, we’re at home and we need to impose our authority on the game from the very first whistle rather than wait for 20 minutes or 30 minutes to do that. So that’s on us tomorrow to do that and make it really, really difficult for Hearts.”
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