It was an afternoon to forget for Celtic on Sunday at Kilmarnock, with not a single player able to hold their head high.
In recent weeks, Brendan Rodgers has challenged the Celtic players and also handed fringe players starting spots.
Mikey Johnston was one of those players, and even though Celtic smashed Hibernian last time out, he was still criticised, so you can imagine what the thoughts were after the Kilmarnock defeat.
Pat Bonner stated that it’s ‘amazing’ how things change because he thought that Mikey Johnston was ‘gone’ 12 months ago.
But after watching the 24-year-old in action over the weekend, Pat Bonner still feels that the winger needs to ‘prove’ himself, as he told BBC Radio Scotland (10/12/23).
It’s pretty simple, these past few weeks don’t make good reading and you wouldn’t be surprised if he is dropped to the bench now.
Mikey Johnston’s struggles at Celtic
“Mikey Johnston, it’s amazing how the game changes,” said Bonner. “A year ago, he was out and he was gone. And now he has come in and is getting a little run of games.
“From my point of view, I am delighted because he is also committed to the Irish set-up and the more games he gets, the better for him. He has trickery and quick feet. I would maybe like to see more end product from him.
On Johnston’s performance v Killie: “They just couldn’t get a hold of the ball. Young Mikey Johnston kept running towards the ball. He was outmuscled. That then stops Celtic from getting a hold of the ball – Johnston still has to prove that he still should be in the team.”
Attention turns to the Champions League
Celtic will remain bottom of Group E ahead of the final Champions League group game against Feyenoord on Wednesday.
A reaction is needed here from the team because, if another defeat follows, then the pressure will just go up a level on the whole team and Rodgers.
There shouldn’t be an overreaction to the Killie loss because, at the end of the day, it was the first league loss of the campaign.
And as Scott Brown pointed out, the team are still sitting top of the Scottish Premiership tree.
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