Celtic’s second-half of the season has been a bit stop-start to say the least, but Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that Sunday afternoon’s victory over St Mirren in Scottish Cup Fifth round can be a catalyst for some good performances to come.
A lacklustre victory over Ross County saw the players booed off of the park at full-time. The first dropped points of the season came at Pittodrie against Aberdeen in the following fixture and whilst Celtic got back into winning ways against Hibernian at Easter Road, it required 2 penalty kicks from new loan signings Adam Idah to get the Hoops over the line against a Hibs side that has been out of sorts to say the least.
With the Scottish Cup still up for grabs and the title race well and truly underway, supporters will be hoping that the team can raise their performance levels for the visit of Kilmarnock to Celtic Park this weekend, turning in a solid performance to help set a precedent for the second-half of the season to come.
With fans’ eager for the performance levels to improve fast, here are 3 players who will be looking to raise their game over the next few weeks.
Paulo Bernardo
The Benfica loanee was playing for a place in the team over the course of the first-half of the campaign, and he eventually earned that towards the tail-end of 2023.
However, now that he has a starting berth relatively secure at the club, the aim for the Portuguese will now be to nail down a permanent move to Celtic in the summer.
With a release clause rumoured to be valued similarly to the £6million the club paid for Jota back in 2022, Bernardo will have a lot to prove in the second half of the season to show that he is worthy of a big money move to the club.
Matt O’Riley
The Dane was the standout for Celtic in the first-half of the season. Whether the club needed a big player to step up and compete with Europe’s elite in the Champions League or a late goal to win some precious points domestically, Matt O’Riley has been the main for Celtic this season.
However, when O’Riley has an off day, the entire team does as well as a result, and his dwindling influence on the team since the return from the winter break has heavily affected the team’s overall play.
Having O’Riley back at his best soon will be key for Celtic in the coming weeks, with a title still to win.
Kyogo Furuhashi
A title race is made ever the more difficult when you don’t have your star striker scoring the goals.
There have been plenty of reasons for why Kyogo has been underperforming this season, with fingers mainly being pointed at Celtic’s wingers as well as Brendan Rodgers.
However, if Celtic are to win the title this season, having someone like Kyogo Furuhashi at the peak of his powers and scoring goals will be vitally important, and after his goal against St Mirren at the weekend, he will be looking to kick on this season.
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