Brendan Rodgers and Reo Hatate shared a moment on the field in Paisley on Tuesday evening post-match after the Japanese midfielder made his long awaited return from injury.
Reo was given the final 20 minutes of Celtic’s game against St Mirren with the bhoys crushing 3-0.
It was a significant moment for Reo who wasn’t expected to get any game time before the winter break.
We reported on the moment shared by Reo on Brendan as they embraced on Tuesday night. It was a nice moment between the manager and the player, however, such is social media, people will trying to read too much into the gesture.
The Celtic manager explained why he went to Reo after the game.
“You could see afterwards he was actually quite emotional to be back out on the pitch again. He’s put in so much hard work & he’s a big, big player for us. When he comes back he’s going to be huge for us in the second half of the season.” He told RecordSport.
It’s good to see a rapport built up between Rodgers and the players brought in by Ange Postecoglou.
Reo’s return was a big moment for him and the fans who have been eagerly awaiting the Japanese playmaker getting back to doing what he does best.
Hatate will now head out to the Asian Cup with Japan alongside countryman Daizen Maeda, so he’ll miss some fixtures for the club after the winter break.
After that, we hope he can hit the ground running to help Celtic secure another title.
