At this point, would Celtic fans miss Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate if they were to depart the club in January?
Eric Knott 
(Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
Before I get into this article, I want to make one thing fully clear; Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate have been excellent for Celtic since they joined the club in late 2021/early 2022.
That cannot be dsiputed.
It should never be disputed.
But if we’re really being honest here, the love affair between both parties is coming to an end.
I will never forget the look on Reo Hatate’s face when he scored his second goal in the 3-0 win against the Ibrox side in February 2022.
YouTube: Celtic 3-0 Rangers | Hatate Scores Twice as Celtic Blow Away Rangers To Go Top | cinch Premiership
I don’t think many of us will.
Up to that point, I doubt he had ever experienced a feeling like that in his relatively short playing career.
I think it’s fair to say, it was his coming of age moment as a footballer.
That look on his face said, “I have arrived, this is where I want to be.”
He won a special place in our hearts that night, and when we look back on it, it’s a moment that will live long in the memory.
For him, I’m sure, and for us.
There is also no doubting that Reo Hatate is one of the most creative midfielders we’ve had at Celtic in recent times.
He has the vision and the ability to play a defence splitting pass with laser like precision.
We’ve seen him do it plenty of times.
The problem now, is that we’re not seeing it very much any more.
In fact, we’re not seeing very much of anything from Reo Hatate.
Which, considering his amazing skillset, is a shame.
Last night in Belgrade, and this is just my opinion, Reo Hatate was anyonymous for Celtic.
Posted missing.
I’m not sure everybody will see it that way, but that’s the way I saw it.
You see, the thing with Reo Hatate is that when he decides to have a poor game, he has a shockingly poor game.
Last night was one of those games, and we’re lucky it didn’t cost us more than it did.
Hatate’s first touch was poor.
His passing was loose, and more often than not, too short.
He lost the ball with unerring regularity, being far too easily dispossessed.
To be honest, he just didn’t look interested last night.
When you show that lack of interest, especially on a European night, then the question needs to be asked, does he really want to be at Celtic anymore?
More importantly, if what we were served up last night is what we’re going to get from him, would we really miss Reo Hatate if he was sold in January?
Personally, based on this current form, I wouldn’t miss him.
And I doubt I’m in the minority here.
Unless we see a marked improvement in the coming weeks, I’m not going to hold it against the board if they let him go in January.
Hatate himself has never hidden the fact he wants to play in the EPL.
So, if his love affair with Celtic is coming to an end, then I’d suggest Brendan Rodgers looks toward the players who actually want to be at the club.
I think its fair to say that Arne Engels made a much more positive impact when he came on for Hatate last night.
The coming weeks will tell us a lot about where Reo Hatate’s head is at.
As for his fellow countryman, Daizen Maeda?
Well, his story is markedly different to Hatate’s.
I think it’s fair to say that Maeda has a genuine grievance with Celtic after his treatment in the summer transfer window.
Well, not with his manager or his teammates, but with the board.
The same board the majority of the fanbase wants gone.
It would appear that the rumours about EPL side Brentford’s interest in him were true.
And it would also appear the club were willing to sell him to Brentford, and that the move was given the go ahead.
Until it wasn’t.
You’re all aware of what happened in the last knockings of an utterly shambolic summer transfer window.
I don’t need to go over it again.
But needless to say, it has had a serious effect on the player overall.
Both from a morale, and a performance perspective.
If we’re being brutally honest, he looked lost last night in Belgrade.
Not only did he look lost, his body language spoke volumes.
It looked like he just didn’t want to be there.
For a player who was absolutely assured of himself and full of confidence, he looked the polar opposite last night.
He drifted in and out of play aimlessly, not quite sure of what he should or shouldn’t be doing.
Similar to Hatate, his touch was loose, as were any of his passes.
The manager had seen enough by half-time, and decided he had to be replaced.
Kelechi Iheanacho’s impact was virtually immediate.
I think it’s just a shame he didn’t make a similar call when it came to Reo Hatate.
I think if he had, the outcome of the tie might have been totally different.
It wasn’t to be, and a draw in Belgrade is a decent start to our Europa League campaign.
But one thing was for certain last night, it looks like both Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda already have one foot out the door at Celtic Park.
Whatever about Maeda, if Reo Hatate gets a move down south, the kind of sloppy play he showed last night will be exposed very quickly.
If he’s trying to put himself in the shop window, he isn’t doing a very good job of it.
Downing tools is certainly not going to get you your dream move, that’s for sure.
As for Maeda, once it was decided he was going to be allowed to leave, there was only ever going to be one outcome.
And that’s exactly what you saw last night.
Once again, if he’s trying to impress Brentford, or any other suitors for that matter, I’d suggest he gets his shit together.
But in the overall scheme of things, I really don’t think many Celtic supporters would miss either player if they were to depart in January.
Well yes, we’d miss the on form Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda.
What we saw last night, though?
We definitely won’t miss that.
Hatate has been poor all season and adz
Ads making i timpossible
Haha, Pat Nevin is absolutely *the* expert now, isnt he? Predicts everything, poor chap. Anyway, Reo looking anonymous in Belgrade? Shocking! Almost makes you wonder if hes trying to sneak onto a bus home early. As for Daizen, lost and drifting? Sounds like someone needs a good old fashioned point towards the stand, maybe? Celtics transfer window was such a shambles, Im surprised the board didnt sell the pitch itself. Good riddance if they go, frankly – we can always use more players who look like they want to be there. And yes, definitely wouldnt miss that performance last night!
And there we have it !
The board of parasites is beginning to affect your thinking, Eric.
Let’s just, for arguments sake,say I agree with your summation because that’s the kind of guy I am.
Can you really, and I mean REALLY blame these two guys if they have,as you say ,downed tools ?
They have been stalwarts from the day they set foot in Paradise and have watched ,most likely in abject disgust as player after player who had ANY decent value was hocked off by the trough feeders in grey suits.
They’ve watched Juranovic,Abada,Giacomtis,Kyogo Starfelt,O’reilly and Kuhn being sold to the first offer and Hatate would have waved ta ta or whatever it is in Japanese if Daizen had gone the same way.
The only one left is Carter Vickers and even he isn’t as reliable and steadfast as he once was because he’s witnessed the same shitshow !
The three of them are surrounded by absolute dross compared to the aforementioned players.
We have a captain who points a lot and is averse to playing a forward pass,unlike(according to your straw poll)our two latest whipping bhoys.
We’ve had a 34 year old winger who,God bless him,should NOT be anywhere near the starting eleven in the most important games of our season but he did !
I’m really disappointed in you for writing this article because what you have done is sown the seeds of doubt,or at least brought it to the attention of the readers,in these two players and Lawwell & Co will be thinking, this guy is doing our job for us !
I really wouldn’t blame them if they have decided to down tools because you’ve just proved to them what a thankless shower our fanbase really are if nearly 80% of them agree with you.
If they go,they will go with my best wishes,but more than likely, unlike most of our faithful through and through.
As an afterthought, what did you think Idah,a self confessed Celtic fan living his dream should have done on the last day of the window ?
I’m interested to know if you thought
(A)He should stay at Celtic Park taking abuse from a fanbase that doesn’t deserve him relying on shit service from the wings from Yang who is consistently stuck on the left wing when it’s as obvious as the nose on Tommy Gemmell’s face that he can’t kick a ball ANYWHERE with his left peg and our aforementioned candidate for the Celtic veterans team or
(B) Do the smart thing and get the hell out of Dodge and leave this fuckin shitshow in his rear view mirror while quadrupling his wages ?
Tough,eh ?
It would make a feckin pig in an Irish bog throw up in disgust !!!!
Haha, Erics article is spot on! Reo and Daizen looking lost in Belgrade? Like theyre trying to direct traffic with a blindfold on! Should we pass here? Or just stand there looking confused? You can almost picture them drifting off to think of EPL clubs instead of Celtic goals. And the fanbase agrees! Looks like 80% of us think they should pack their bags and join Brentfords lost and drifting player search. Good riddance if they go – we can always use more players who dont need a map to find the pitch! Maybe theyll finally get that dream move by just… walking off the park. Cant wait for the January transfer window results – should be entertaining!
As much as I love these 2 players, on current form they have to be dropped. We cannot afford to have passengers in any game and neither of them are contributing to the team at the moment. As a player sitting on the bench how would you feel that they are ahead of you in selection
Hatate for me is still a player. He does lose the ball at times & I won’t even try to defend his perfomances but what I do find with him that bothers me less is he is generally misplacing passes because he wants to progress the attack.
McGregor is the other player who should have been hooked along with Maeda. He kills attacks. Rarely plays the forward pass, there were at least 5 or 6 occasions against Red Star he had a forward but chose his buddy CCV instead.
I think it is probably the same scenario for both Hatate & McGregor though. They need a rest. They play every game. Since BR has returned & gained faith in Reo around November he has played near enough all the time other than when he was out for a few months in BRs first season back.
We have depth in midfield but BR refuses to rotate Mcgregor or Hatate. Nygren & Engles have rotated. McCowan gets on off the bench but Hatate & McGregor are always in the starting 11. He needs to let them rest.
I voted No they aren’t done but truthfully that is only for Hatate. Maeda is done, the board have shafted him & I can tell you if my employers shafted me like they have him I’d be pretty reluctant to give 100%.
Other point Hatate wants EPL but if he’s really that bad for us that we want rid of him in January why would an EPL team want him.
Got the second last paragraph wrong should have been.
“I voted No they are done but truthfully that is only for Maeda. Maeda is done, the board have shafted him & I can tell you if my employers shafted me like they have him I’d be pretty reluctant to give 100%.”