Mikey Johnston

He’s scoring today.

 

Feel sorry for him. Some will definitely look at him being to blame for the lack of goals when it just isn't fair.

 

He was hung out to dry. Deserves zero blame.

 

His game through the middle is all about running in behind. So what does Rodgers do?

Plays the only player in our midfield who’s good at passing in behind and plays him LB.

Mental.

 

fed to the wolves today, what the * was Rodgers thinking playing an inexperienced 19 year old kid with barely any first team games at Ibrox. Edouard should have started. feel sorry for the lad. The hun defence didnt even look like they was bothered he was there, they had nothing to worry about.

 

For me he is the perfect 10.. (pun aye)

He should be tried there whilst Rogic away and then should share the position. His movement, ability to go either way and an eye for a goal, will give most Scottish defences the absolute fear..

 

100% mate..

Said the same in Dev's who should play the 10 thread recently..

He's definitely played it for the unders..

He's very un-Scottish like. He's like a wee Spanish attacker..

His touch, control, skill, speed, 2 footed, low centre of gravity, composure, unpredictability etc are on another level..

Once he grows in to his self he's gonna blow us away..

No rated an attacking kid as highly in him in a long time..

 

Has to forget about last week and continue to impress. Not at fault, was * against the wind with the set up and players behind him not showing up. Great prospect.

 

Johnston played well against Motherwell and Dundee and I was very happy to see him get his goals, but I reckon the Rangers game was a step too far for the lad at this stage.

If he had been given better service and if the team as a whole had been getting further upfield he might have had some joy, but Johnston shouldn't get too beat up about last week.

He still has a bright future at Celtic and I'm excited to see what Johnston will do for the rest of the season and next.

 

Couldnt understand why we changed a striker for another one when MJ didnt have any service at all . We should of changed it around so we could provvide service to whoever was up top but its over now so hopefully weve leaned

 

MIKEY Johnston was hardly going to say no.


Sure, it was asking a lot of him to play as a lone striker, never his natural role, against Rangers at Ibrox but he wasn’t going to turn down a request from Brendan Rodgers.

That it didn’t work is hardly Johnston’s fault. Indeed, while nobody would claim he was a success on December 29, the 19-year-old did better than perhaps he should have on an awful day for Celtic.

At least he tried. At least he looked to get on the ball in a bid to get things going. Once or twice he got past his man, only to find another blue shirt blocking his way with not a single team-mate in sight. His manager gave him a job and he tried his best. What more could he have done?


Johnston will use the experience to make himself better. He’s not the type to dwell on a frustrating day; rather, he’s determined to make sure he is ready for the next time he gets a chance.

The teenager is in Dubai for training and some time to reflect on a month in which he scored his first Celtic goal – three in total – and the start of what he hopes is a first-team career.

Johnston said: “It’s really good just to be here and in this environment with the first-team training every day. I just want to get myself ready to kick-on for the second-half of the season and keep trying to do well.

“It’s given me a lot of confidence that the manager has been prepared to show the faith in me and given me an opportunity in high-profile games, such as the one against Rangers at Ibrox just before the break.

It doesn’t take anything away from the special feeling when you get to be called up to play against any side. You still feel brilliant when you are handed the chance to play any game for Celtic, even if it against one of the so-called lesser teams.

“But, of course, it does give you extra confidence as a player when you are chosen to play in the bigger ones. The match itself ended up a really big disappointment in terms of the result. We didn’t play well enough on the day, but it is something that we will use to make sure we bounce back from it in the future.


On a personal level, it will also hold me in good stead for the future to have experienced it and have gone through it all, even though the result wasn’t what any of us wanted. I’m delighted to have had that chance and some of the other chances the manager has given to me through the first-half of the season;

it’s definitely something for me to build upon. As for the Rangers game, it’ll make me feel more confident if I go into that game the next time we play them.”

There is a familiar face heading to the Middle East. Oliver Burke and Johnston are former team-mates with the Scotland under-21 side and even shared a room while on international duty. The two are not dissimilar in terms of their playing style and Johnston is excited at the prospect

of linking up with him again.

He said: “I’ve played alongside Oli quite a few times, through the Scotland set-ups up and up into the Under-21s. In actual fact, I’ve shared with him before during one of the trips. It was good fun and it was an enjoyable trip.

“He’s a good guy and he’s also a really good player. Oli is really athletic and fast and can play in different areas. He’s seen as a wide player, but he can also play as a striker, I’ve seen him do that a couple of times and he was so quick and powerful.

It’s always a really good thing for young players to be at Celtic because you do get opportunities and you do get chances to play and show yourself

The manager has said he wants to add new players and seeing new players coming into the squad is a good thing for everyone at the club and the supporters. It provides healthy competition for all of the ones who were there before at the club and it also keeps everyone working as hard as they can and pushing for the places.”

Rodgers needs hungry players on the fringes of the first-team and Johnston is most definitely that. This Celtic supporter is desperate to make a name for himself at the club and you can bet your last penny that he’ll give all he’s got to impress his manager.

Johnston said: “I’m just here to keep working hard and showing myself, trying to prove to the manager that I can keep playing in the team. Hopefully, the manager and the coaching staff can see that.”

What happens next in terms of the Ladbrokes Premiership will be fascinating. For the first time in seemingly forever, every weekend is vital, dropped points could be crucial and Celtic are in a fight.

However, as Johnston said: “No-one has ever won the league title after half a season, so we are just kicking on now.

“We’ve made a good start. We’re still top of the table and we have a game in hand, so it’s going the right way.”

 

I think this guy will get plenty game time under Lennon.

He’s looked really good when he got a couple of starts.

The game against Rangers was a lot to ask from him considering we couldn’t get up the park. There were individual highlights of him floating about after the game and he actually done well everytime he was involved. It was just unnoticed in the grand scheme of things that day.

 

I was raging he was taken off over Sinclair that day. Him and Callum at LB were our only players who looked like they were capable of doing anything..

 

Will need to see if I can find that video. Was either here or Twitter it was on you’ve probably saw it mate.

 

Clearly has a lot of talent but imo he could do with a loan move where he is playing week in week out.

It benefitted Christie massively. I think it would have the same impact for him.

 

Only winger who actually beat his man today.

 

Really like him. Tricky and unpredictable; but his final ball (as expected at his age) is letting him down.

 

Needs a loan deal

 

Don’t really get the criticism of him today on twitter, people saying he’ll never make it here. I thought he was very good today, always positive going forward, beat his man a number of times, obviously his final ball was a bit off a couple of times but he was better than Sinclair

 

I like him but he's very lightweight. Definitely has a future with us and looked our best bet in the second half.