Why Rodgers is keen to keep ‘instrumental character’ Taylor

As the campaign enters its final weeks it remains unclear whether Celtic left-back Greg Taylor will be at the club next season after nearly six years of service.

The 27-year-old is out of contract and while manager Brendan Rodgers said earlier this year it was more likely than not Taylor will be moving on, some recent reporting suggests the club could come to an agreement with the Scotland international.

Celtic fans are split on whether this would be a wise move or not, with some holding doubts about Taylor’s qualities, particularly at Champions League level.

While the return of Kieran Tierney in the summer perhaps undermines the case for keeping the former Kilmarnock player at a greater cost.

Others, though, believe Taylor is a valuable player who has experience of winning regularly at Celtic, and keeping him alongside Tierney would give them two strong options at left-back next season.

The Celtic manager’s praise for Taylor came after Celtic’s 5-1 thumping of Kilmarnock, where he was named player of the match.

Having dropped out of the team for five league matches, Taylor was re-introduced from the bench at half-time of the 1-0 defeat by St Johnstone.

Despite Celtic failing to come back in the match Rodgers saw enough to reinstate Taylor into the starting line-up, and he thrived as Celtic returned to form with a bang.

Playing as an inverted left-back, as he often does, Taylor was involved in the first two goals through the middle of the pitch as Celtic rattled four in 25 minutes past Kilmarnock.

For the opener, Taylor popped up on the edge of the box and combined with Reo Hatate to open up space for the midfielder to curl in a beauty.

A look at his heatmap for that game, shows he virtually played as a number 10 when Celtic had the ball.

And while it was only one game, the Celtic manager has been clear Taylor’s ability to perform that role is something he cherishes in their bid to open up defences.

“In terms of that role, that inverted position, that’s as good as I’ve seen that played,” Rodgers said of Taylor’s display against Kilmarnock.

“When you’re playing against teams that are man-to-man you need to have mobility in your team, players who can find space. Who are clever and know when to be inside and when to be outside.

Since returning to Celtic Rodgers has been clear he wants to take them up a level in European competition.

This season was a step forward as they went close to taking Bayern Munich to extra-time in the play-off round, after racking up 12 points in the league phase.

To continue that trend and their dominance of Scottish football, Rodgers knows they need even greater depth and a variety of options in a long season.

That is also why keeping Taylor is important to him. While Tierney, he says, could play further infield, his strengths are more using his pace and dribbling ability to get behind defences and put crosses into the box.

Those different strengths are why the Celtic manager sees them “dovetailing perfectly”.

But it’s not just about ability, but personality as well. When the Celtic boss was asked about Taylor’s future he was effusive in his praise for his player’s attitude.

One of the points he made was Taylor is always up for every game – “And I mean every game” – the Celtic boss emphasised.

The inference was not enough of his team were sufficiently motivated for the first half of their 1-0 loss at McDiarmid Park, something that is understandable given their huge lead in the Premiership, but unacceptable at Celtic.

The nature of the club and Scottish football means a native core is important, as they intuitively understand winning every domestic game is demanded at Glasgow’s big two.

While Tierney will clearly bring that leadership, for Rodgers having as many characters like that as possible, as long as they are also effective, is key.

“He’s very instrumental off the field, he’s got a big personality in the changing room,” the Celtic boss said of Taylor.

All that said, no player is perfect. Taylor’s lack of height and pace does leave him vulnerable when stepping up to Champions League level.

Comparing his defensive output to that of Celtic’s right-back Alistair Johnston in European games this season suggests this.

The Canadian’s duel success rate is 54% compared to Taylor’s 46%, while the difference in tackle success is 14% in Johnston’s favour, while naturally he was more effective at winning aerial duels too given his height advantage.

With less time and space, Taylor’s impact in the middle of the pitch is also reduced.

And while any player is capable of being undone at Champions League level and Taylor still played his part in the successes in Europe, one of the big appeals of bringing Tierney back are his physical attributes – when fit – and dogged one-on-one defending.

Rodgers has often mentioned a lack of running power and athleticism as reasons why Celtic struggled in the Champions League for so long, something a fit Tierney will help solve.

The question for Celtic, though, is not whether they should keep Taylor but, at what point does it become too expensive to?

A player of Tierney’s pedigree will not come cheaply in wages, and so paying two essentially ‘first choice’ left-backs would be a big call, and not something Celtic would usually do.

The other option is to bring in a younger, cheaper understudy to play the minutes Tierney will miss, with the hope they develop and grow in ability and value.

Those are the solutions Celtic will be considering. And the decision they take could be instructive of how Rodgers wants his team to grow.

“Greg knows how we all feel about him here,” the Celtic boss said.

“It’s a big decision at 27, if you commit you’re committing for four or five years so you’re saying this is your big contract here.