Reo Hatate was one of Celtic’s foremost players on Saturday afternoon. The Japan internationalist was central to the Hoops’ 3-1 win over Kilmarnock, scoring a goal and assisting another.
Post-match, his gaffer Brendan Rodgers revealed that he had a sit-down, one-to-one chat with him after his sub-par performance midweek. He said (Clyde 1): “I took him through the clips of his game, nothing with the ball, everything without the ball. I said if you don’t have that intensity and that level of pressure, then, I said I always say, if you press the game well you’ll pass it well.”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers applauds the fans after the match Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
We know that the Irishman is always keen to build up personal relationships with his players and help them improve. This was the case here, and Rodgers revealed the 25-year-old took everything on board. He said: “He took that [advice] on board, he was very open and like I said he produced a fantastic performance today so that’s the level, now it’s consistency because you can’t switch the level on and off.”
Life under Rodgers wasn’t going too well for Hatate before this afternoon. His displays weren’t what we were used to from him but supporters will be hoping he can now kick on and ensure he gains consistency like his boss says.
