Reo Hatate

To have him back at this moment in time is a massive shot in the arm.

Incredible to think he´s been away for a lengthy spell.
He looked really sharp, and on that * surface as well.

Good, good, good to have you back.
Will give that other lot something to think about ahead of Sunday as well!

 

Hopefully he's got some fitness in those legs to go at the huns for a good 75 something minutes.

I would be happy to see him kinda ignore Rodgers style of play of keeping possession for the sake of possession and get back to taking the risks with his forward passing and pinging balls forward as that skill along with the energy and movement of guys like Kyogo and Maeda could be key to really putting that hun defence under serious pressure early doors

 

Hope he's up to ruining the Huns Sunday.

I'm pretty confident he will

 

Been critical of him earlier this season but that's the attitude I want to see. If he continues like he did last week we're cooking way gas.

 

As happy as I was to see him play last weekend I must say I was surprised how sharp he looked given how long he has been out. Hopefully he can produce something special this weekend.

 

He's the man with the vision to unleash the front 3.

 

REO HATATE has opened up on his injury nightmare and promised Celtic fans: I’ll make up for lost time.

The Japanese midfielder has spent three periods on the sidelines this term, making just 12 appearances for Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Hatate’s most recent setback came at the Asian Cup in January when he injured both calves against Bahrain.

The 26-year-old admits the news of another long lay-off left him “depressed” and devoid of all energy.

Hatate finally returned to the Celtic team against Livingston on Sunday, when he made his first start since October.

The influential midfielder is now in line to face Rangers in Sunday’s huge title showdown.


Hatate, who revealed he has adapted his fitness regime, said: “I have been repeatedly injured and not been able to contribute to the team.

“I want to win as many titles as possible and I want to show the Celtic fans a performance that once again makes them think, ‘Celtic need Reo Hatate’.

“During my rehabilitation in preparation for my return, I reviewed everything. This included preparation for competitions, physical strength, training content and diet.

“The most recent injury was my third this season and although it was in a different location, it was a huge shock to have sustained a similar injury over and over again.



When I returned to Scotland after the Asian Cup, my heart sank for a while.

“I had also been injured in a match against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on October 25 last year


“I was disappointed at that moment, but quickly recovered.

“I thought to myself, ‘I will definitely recover from my injury and participate in the Asian Cup’.


By setting clear goals for my return, I was able to stay much more positive.

“However, this time, it was difficult for me to change my mind because I had been injured playing in a competition that had been my goal.”

Hatate admits the early weeks of his most recent rehab period led to dark times but thanked his parents for helping him get through it.

He said: “I handled my feelings and emotions as I felt them and I spent a lot of time feeling depressed.


However, that doesn’t mean I cut corners in my rehab or that I neglected my daily life.

“I was doing my best in everything but, to put it simply, I just wasn’t motivated and had no energy.

“However, there are people who care about me and who worry about me, including, of course, my family.

“My father was concerned about my injury and my mother was also concerned about my condition

They contacted me, which naturally led me to become more positive.”

Hatate’s enthusiasm returned as he edged towards a Celtic return in the last month.

And he has vowed to use his painful experiences to help his career going forward.

He said: “It’s one thing not to force yourself to control or maintain your feelings and sometimes just to surrender to the flow

There are very few people who have everything going well in their life. What seems like a long detour to you often turns out to be a shortcut.

“There are times when I have thought I didn’t have to experience something. But later I realise I was glad I had.

“The same goes for injuries. I realised that, whether you think it’s a waste of time or whether you can even use that time to your advantage, depends on your own way of thinking and how you perceive it.”

Hatate was a surprise inclusion in Japan’s Asian Cup squad after only returning to the Celtic squad weeks earlier.


Looking back, he reckons he wasn’t as sharp as he wanted to be against Bahrain — the game where he was crocked.

But his bitter experience there has made him even more determined to play a bigger role for Japan.

Writing in his Sportiva diary, he added: “After the injury, I looked back at myself and thought the following, ‘Why this timing?’.

“Now that I think about it, there was something off about the match against Bahrain.


This is just an afterthought and it’s just a feeling, but even when I was playing, I felt a little different than usual.

“The feeling of passing was a little different than usual and I might not have been able to see my surroundings as usual.

“In terms of distance, the error was only one or two centimetres.

“In terms of volume of work, the difference was only one or two marks on the scale.


But I really felt a definite difference.

“Conditions vary from game to game, so I don’t think that was a factor that directly led to the injury.

“However, when an accident occurs, it is probably due to a combination of these factors.

“I was unable to swallow my frustration on the pitch, but after the Asian Cup my feelings for the Japanese national team grew even more

I’ve always wanted to contribute to the Japan national team. But after experiencing that tournament it became a place where I wanted to stay and stay here, so that became my goal.

 

He was apparently flying in the games he played at the Asia cup before he picked up an injury.

This is the attitude I want to see from him, as if he feels he has something to prove again. He was a total standout last year before he had the hamstring injury.

 

I swear every time one of our Japanese players gets injured, we get some interview afterwards where they're like "I retrated to the woods for three months to regroup and had a premonition of a career lost, I therefore set out to right my wrongs and become the greatest footballer any Celtic fan had ever seen" It's probably just the translations but they always seem so dramatic (in a way I absolutely love).

 

The way of the dragon

 

Hopefully thats the case and he really shows up this weekend with a big performance.

 

Definitely a translation thing, or rather a difference in how Japanese phrase things compared to us. I love it

Also, it's Reo's column he writes, not an interview as such. Nit-picking but thought I'd mention it.

 

His comments are crucial as well. He clearly wasn't on form earlier in the year and looks to have worked hard on his physical fitness. If fit and on form he's the most creative player in Scotland.

 

Seen what it meant to him after he had that chat with Rodgers. Puts in a belter of a performance and was almost in tears...or maybe he was I can't remember.

He wants to the best he can and is tremendously focused on how to achieve that.

 

Having McGregor back will have rangers concentrating so much in trying to stop him dominating the game they'll allow hatate the freedom of the park. He'll run the show on Sunday.

 

Think it’s one or the other starting, either McGregor or Hatate. Both are a huge boost coming off the bench as well, which is a good way to think of it. McGregor’s been a * colossal player in the two games so far with them this year, but I’d still keep Iwata in the position he’s in, and if Calmac starts he has more freedom to push forward. Hatate naturally is box to box, whose graft goes unnoticed sometimes due to how his flair, vision and technique lights up games but he’s a workhorse as well. As is O’Riley.

It’s Iwata, O’Riley + 1 in there. And there’s an outside chance of it being Bernardo as well. Who’s already had a massive effect in one of these games already this season, and looked flying when he came on last week. His goal for Portugal seems to have bigged up his confidence much like the goal at Dundee. The options we have in the middle has went from non-existent at Tynecastle not that long ago to frightening.

Wings are looking similar as well with Kuhn, Yang and Forrest all hitting form, and Palma coming back.

Mad how we’ve went from threadbare to strong.

 

So happy to have hatate back. Thought he was very good today until the engine started fading. He will be crucial for the run in

 

If he can stay fit rest of season that might just be the boost we need to get it across the line.