Peter Grant says Brendan Rodgers’ experiment with one Celtic man is a ‘no-go’

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Celtic’s attack is lacking in balance.

After a scattergun transfer window, Brendan Rodgers has been left having to fit square pegs into round holes in his Hoops frontline.

The loss of Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah, as well as Kyogo Furuhashi in January, has taken a lot of goals out of Celtic’s squad.

And as Rodgers seeks to find solutions, various players have played in more than one position as he works out his options. He even tried a formation change against Braga.

But for Peter Grant, there is one Celtic man who is a ‘no-go’ in one attacking position.

Peter Grant on Daizen Maeda’s ‘no-go’ position

Daizen Maeda was Celtic’s player of the year last season, and seemingly untouchable in the Hoops’ starting XI.

However, after revealing his desire to leave Celtic in the summer, his form has come into question. His movement around different positions hasn’t helped.

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In the absence of a replacement for Kuhn, Maeda has had to spend time on the right side, something he has rarely done throughout his Celtic career.

And Grant, speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, made his opinion on his best position clear.

He said: “I thought last week when he got moved to the left hand side – he started on the right, then went to the left – and I thought that was his best period in the game.

“Then he went through the middle and got his goal. On the right side for me, that’s a no-go. Along with centre-forward, that’s a no-go for me either.

“It’s not went well, as I said, there’s not a lot of players over a seven so far this season, and that’s a hell of a good if you’re only sitting two points off.

“But once they kick into gear, you’re hoping that they’re going to get the performances that they’re looking for.

“And unfortunately for Daizen, he’s not been playing at his best. There’s no doubt of that. And unfortunately it comes at a time when people are talking that he’s going to leave, and he’s pushed the dummy out the pram.

“I don’t think so. Because I watch him warm up and I watch him cool down, and I’ve never seen as good a professional. So it’s definitely not that he’s downed tools.”

Will Daizen Maeda leave Celtic in January?

After the ordeal of selling Kyogo, Rodgers made it clear that he had no interest in working with players who did not want to be at Celtic.

After his comments last month, Maeda’s desires couldn’t be more clear. But with fans unhappy at Celtic’s transfer strategy, can the club afford to sell another key player?

Selling Maeda without a replacement would be a real no-go. It would probably be the final nail in the coffin for the Hoops boss’ contract situation.

But with Rodgers saying that he’s open to staying under the right conditions, could Maeda help those conditions be met, or is the writing on the wall?