Billy Dodds forced into Daizen Maeda admission after Celtic secure the domestic double

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When Billy Dodds faced Daizen Maeda as Kilmarnock’s assistant in February, the Celtic hero only had seven Premiership goals to his name.

Maeda started the game at Rugby Park, with the home side leading 2-0, and the Japan star being hooked off after an hour.

Julian Araujo’s last-gasp winner sealed a famous win for Celtic against Killie, as Dodds admitted around that time that he wasn’t sure Maeda had it in him to produce the goods as a striker.

Speaking on Go Radio, Dodds stated that he felt that the all-action forward was better off starting on the left, but during Celtic’s post-split fixtures, he was proven wrong.

“Because if you think about Maeda, since I was in here talking about him,” said Dodds. “He was struggling.

“There was a show where Mark Guidi and myself were talking about his best position. We thought it was wide rather than as a striker. But then he comes back as a striker and scores goals.”

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Billy Dodds on Daizen Maeda proving his worth as a striker for Celtic

For months and months, Celtic were searching for somebody to take that striker spot and run with it.

Either players weren’t good enough, their form had fallen off a cliff, or they just couldn’t complete 90 minutes of football.

But Maeda, who scored seven Premiership goals before the split, proceeded to match that number during Celtic’s highly-charged title matches, including the crucial title-winning match against Hearts.

“I said Iheanacho single-handedly, that’s not true,” said Dodds. “Because if you think about Maeda, since I was in here talking about him. He was struggling.

“There was a show where Mark Guidi and myself were talking about his best position. We thought it was wide rather than as a striker.

“But then he comes back as a striker and scores goals. He finds himself on the left towards the latter periods of games. Then Iheanacho comes on and does the business. So, he has been a revelation again.”

Now is the time for Maeda to leave…

Maeda has openly stated that he wants to live his boyhood dream and play in the English Premier League.

It has been well-documented that he wanted to leave Glasgow last summer, and perhaps that affected his performances during the first half of the campaign.

But at the age of 28, and given that he would leave Celtic a ‘hero’, Dodds thinks it’s perhaps now time to move on from the player.

“He was nearly away last season,” added Dodds. “If he is ever going to move, it’s probably now with the form he is in. I think it’s down to Maeda.

“I think the Celtic fans, yeah, they will be gutted to lose him, but I think they will give him a big, huge send-off, in terms of ‘Well done for us. Thanks, and you will always be a hero now.’

“Everything we were talking about, he produced, didn’t he? Play there. Play through the middle. Play wide, and I am still going to do it, so maybe it’s time for his move. He deserves it.”