BRENDAN RODGERS admitted he was surprised by Hayato Inamura’s debut in Celtic’s 2-1 win over Cork City in Ireland last night.
The left-sided Japanese defender only sealed his £250,000 move from J-League Albirex Niigata last week and the Hoops manager hinted he could be loaned out to get game-time.
However, the 23-year-old new Bhoy seized the opportunity to impress Rodgers during his 45 minutes on the pitch in which Luke McCowan lashed the visitors into an interval lead.
Inamura looked eager to get involved, as was stated in CQN‘s match analysis, but still has much work to do, especially with his final pass although he did set up a glorious chance for Johnny Kenny with a wicked near-post delivery, but the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international failed to make contact with the inviting ball.
Asked if he could force a change of mind, Rodgers answered: “One hundred percent. I’m not fixed on it. The feeling from us all was: ‘Okay, we’ll bring him in and see how he does pre-season’, thinking that he may need to get out and play.
“But I always judge players in the pre-season on how they look and are they going to be capable.
“He’s certainly shown in the few days’ training he’s so smooth with the ball. Not only that, he plays forward.
“When you play for Celtic or any of the big clubs, you have to pass the ball forward.
“You’ve got to have the personality to take the ball and play and he has that.
“I’ve got to say, he surprised me. We knew that he was going to come in and I felt that maybe it was going to be a bit more settling in for him, but we’ll see how he works.”
Rodgers, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “He’s obviously not been playing that long.
“I think we see that with the Japanese boys, they go through university and they’re not actually professionals until they’re 23, 24.
“So, he’s late into the game and then it’s always about the adaption and how he comes across.
“But in these first days’ training, he’s so competent with the ball.
“He’ll need to develop physically, that’s natural when you come into European football.
“But his comfort on the ball, his willingness to attack is really good. So, we’ll see how he looks over the remaining games.”
Around 30,000 fans turned out in the glorious sunshine for the encounter that saw the hosts equalise in the 67th minute through Matthew Murray before teenage defender Colby Donovan powered in an unstoppable header for the late clincher.
Callum Osmand, signed from Fulham, also had a chance to get on the scoresheet in the second-half, but he fluffed his finish and shot tamely at the keeper. Undoubtedly, the youngster will do better as he settles in to his new surroundings.
Comeback Bhoy Kieran Tierney and Swedish winger Benjamin Nygren have yet to play, but are likely to figure alongside Liam Scales, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah in Portugal at the weekend while Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate are on the fringes.
Images courtesy CELTIC TV
Rodgers added: “It was a really good exercise, just exactly what we wanted, it was a quick turnaround from Friday and I thought the first-half was better than the second, the speed of our play and some of our details.
“But a great evening, great turnout and good exercise.
“The boys are only back 10 days or so, sometimes that wee bit of precision and passing and maybe not playing as forward as much as we would like, but in the first-half we were good in the game and created a lot of moments in and around the box.
“In the second-half, we had to defend that wee bit more so, but that’s also good for your fitness, as well.”
WELSH BLOW IN SILVERWARE TRIUMPH
