'No matter what': Celtic 26y/o weighs in on Brendan Rodgers debate

The Northern Irishman, who returned for a second spell at the Parkhead club in 2023, stressed at the weekend that he would “150 per cent” be staying at least until his contract ends next year.

Rodgers won his 10th trophy at Celtic when they beat Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup final in December and the Hoops will win the William Hill Premiership title for the 13th time in 14 years if they avoid defeat when they take on Dundee United at Tannadice in the first game after the split. Firstly, though, they have to face bottom side St Johnstone in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Canada right-back, who joined Celtic from Montreal in January 2023, was speaking at the club’s Lennoxtown training complex where he was promoting the club’s player of the year awards, and said: “The gaffer’s been great since he walked in the door. I think his resume speaks for itself in terms of not only his time here, but his time outside Scotland.

“I mean, he’s a winner. It’s as simple as that, he’s a manager that you love to play for. Obviously that’s definitely above my pay grade, those kind of decisions. At the end of the day, it’ll come down to what the gaffer wants.

‘Proven top manager’ for Celtic

“He’s proven time and time again what a top manager he is and how much he loves this club and how much he loves being here for the fans. So, I think that’ll be a decision between him and the club but, hopefully, there’s something that can keep him here for the long term. I do believe he still has one more year left after this. No matter what, I know he’ll be here next year and that’s something that I think all of our fans and all the players are excited about.”

Johnston signed under previous boss Ange Postecoglou but revealed how Rodgers has further improved his game. He said: “Obviously I came in under Ange, I was brought in to invert (full-back) and I kind of hit the ground running a little bit. But I was still kind of starry-eyed a little bit, just trying to find my place and when he (Rodgers) came in, he kind of really unlocked me in terms of he wanted me to be that full-back that bombed up and down and not only was I a shutdown kind of defender, but I also got up the park and it was constantly overlapping.

“He saw that I had the ability to do that, and he kind of really unlocked that, between him and John Kennedy (assistant) they’ve really kind of fine-tuned my game and brought me into probably my finest form that I’ve ever been in, that was probably at the start of the season.

“He’s been great for me, there’s no doubt about that, and I’ve really enjoyed playing under him and hopefully that’ll continue for a long, long time.”