Celtic are entering a new era. Ange Postecoglou achieved a lot of success over the past couple of seasons, winning five trophies. But he has now left in order to join Tottenham Hotspur. On the other hand, the club have brought back Brendan Rodgers for a second stint in the Parkhead hot seat.
The Northern Irishman had left the club just four years back for Leicester City. And not many people would have expected to see him back so soon, if ever, considering the circumstances surrounding his exit.
Rodgers is now the Celtic manager though and it will be interesting to see what he makes of the current squad. He will surely be coming in with his own ideas.
Alistair Johnston is someone who is almost certain to retain his status as a starter. He arrived in the January transfer window and has been immense since then, exceeding all expectations. The Canadian international still appears to be struggling with an injury he picked up late in the season though.
Celtic starter left out of national squad due to injury
Johnston has been left out of Canada’s Gold Cup squad. And as reported by Glasgow Times, manager John Herdman said about the decision:
"“Some players need a break to recover from injury.“Alistair Johnston was carrying an injury he picked up on club duty with Celtic.“So we’ve got some young lads that we’ll start looking at for this Gold Cup.“I would have loved to have the same squad as for the Nations League, but it won’t happen.”"
Johnston spent several weeks out of action towards the end of Celtic’s season, due to the injury. He was back in time to take part in the Scottish Cup final against Inverness CT. But it is quite clear that he is still not at a hundred per cent.
Thus, Johnston being left out of the Canadian national team squad is good news for Celtic. The Hoops will be hoping that the right-back recovers and is back to full fitness by the time pre-season rolls around. Rodgers will surely want to have a first hand look at all the players available to him.