“Something is missing” – Former star says Celtic player ‘must be worried’, told how to turn things around

Former Celtic star Emilio Izaguirre has urged Luis Palma to put in extra efforts to cement his place in Brendan Rodgers’ starting lineup.

Izaguirre is currently the sporting director at Honduran side FC Motagua. He has been speaking to the local media on various topics, including Palma’s situation at Celtic. His quotes are relayed by Fútbol Centroamérica.

The winger has been limited to 106 minutes from four matches for Celtic this season, of which 37 are in the league.

Last week, former Honduras international Julio César de León backed Palma to get out of the difficult situation at Celtic. Izaguirre has now given the attacker ‘several tips’ to ‘stand out’ for Brendan Rodgers’ side.

“It’s very complex, I wasn’t loaned out, I was a starter from the moment I arrived, but then I picked it all up quickly,” he said.

“If you are a 200% professional, you have to be 1,000%. You have to learn to eat, sleep and train at 2,000% that’s where you’re going to meet teammates who are more professional than you, where you compete internally.”

Izaguirre spent seven years during his two spells at Celtic between 2010 and 2018. He was a regular for the Scottish champions, making 271 appearances in all competitions.

The current sporting director has issued a warning to the Honduras international to figure out quickly why Brendan Rodgers has left him out of the starting XI.

“Celtic are a very demanding team, just like their fans. If he’s not a starter, it means that something is missing, they don’t leave anything out,” Izaguirre explained.

“Even in training there are cameras to see what everyone does. Something must be happening, and he must be worried because they don’t forgive anyone. They focus on the fact that this opportunity could pass him by and hopefully not, he’s a great boy and player, hopefully this season he will return to the starting lineup.”

Palma’s compatriot has urged him to be mentally strong to overcome this difficult phase at Celtic.

“It’s up to me to support him, it’s up to us Hondurans. He represents us in Europe, he competes in the Champions League and that’s nice,” he added.

“If there are no Hondurans now there are Panamanians and Costa Ricans. You can’t get sick, injured… When I got injured they hired two left-backs. I trained and climbed a mountain to test myself, it’s a mental thing. I came back and took over the position.”

“That’s the mentality that every sportsman should have, you have to improve with hard work.”