Inside the Celtic dressingroom: Unique group, friends, 'the nicest man I've ever met'
It is even harder when a number of nationalities and different cultures come together, as is the case with this current Celtic squad. Players from 16 different countries make up the first-team pool that manager Ange Postecoglou has assembled. While a few are from the British Isles, recruits have been plucked from all corners of the globe: Argentina, Australia, Canada and of course Japan, where a healthy cohort of internationalists are driving Celtic on to glory.
Currently on a 17-match winning run across all competitions, unbeaten since a defeat by current European champions Real Madrid in early November, the efforts made by Postecoglou, his coaching staff and particularly club captain Callum McGregor – a Scot – to gel the group are working. There is clear camaraderie within the Lennoxtown training base, and deep respect. Some players don’t get as much game-time as they would hope for but when called up, they fit into the starting XI pretty seamlessly. There were three changes to the team against Kilmarnock on Sunday – and notable absentees at that. Defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, midfielder Aaron Mooy and Jota were all rested, primarily to do with the stodgy synthetic surface at Rugby Park, but they were not missed. That was in part down to some horrific resistance from Killie early in the match but Postecoglou has the luxury and ability to call upon reinforcements and not be let down.
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Hide AdMatt O’Riley, Celtic’s 22-year-old Danish midfielder who scored twice on Sunday, knows what it means to be in both camps. He has experienced spells this season of being a starter every week to then dropping to the bench. He was impressed by the way Yuki Kobayashi, Tomoki Iwata and Sead Haksabanovic all contributed to the win. “That just shows the depth of our squad,” O’Riley explained. “Especially Yuki and Tomoki, they’ve come in from another country and culture and have settled in really quickly. It helps that they are both genuinely very nice people as well, so they’ve settled in to our culture very easily. They’re both really making an effort to speak English with us which definitely helps. On the pitch you can see they are enjoying themselves. Yuki probably hasn’t played as much as he wants to, but when he’s been asked he’s performed really well.”
O’Riley’s football upbringing took him from Milton Keynes to Glasgow. Others have moved from Petah Tikva in Israel, Suwon in South Korea and Lisbon in Portugal to be here. “It’s quite unique,” O’Riley said of the group. “We’ve got a lot of different nationalities in that team, with a nice blend of Japanese and pure Scottish guys who keep it, well, Scottish!”
Does competition for places not lead to animosity at times and challenges with so many players wanting to play? O’Riley disagrees with that suggestion. “I don’t really find it challenging in that sense because they are all so nice,” he explained. “There are no hard feelings if someone plays over you; we’re still all going to chat and be friends. I don’t think that hinders us. It’s probably a benefit. Competition, in my opinion, always helps you play better. Last season personally I had that with Tom [Rogic], and to be able to compete with and also have the respect of someone like that definitely makes you play better. I’ve got that this season with so many good midfield players and the higher the level each one of us can play, it will continue to push the other players. It’s a nice balance and everyone is a genuinely nice person which helps massively.”
The fans’ favourite right now from the current crop is Kyogo Furuhashi. The striker has scored 29 goals across all levels this season – and could have netted his 30th when striking the post with a penalty. The miss did not seem to worry him. He was smiling before, and was smiling afterwards. O’Riley is also clearly a fully-paid up member of the Kyogo appreciation society. “He’s probably the nicest man I’ve ever met, genuinely,” he asserted. “It’s not just on the pitch with what you see, he’s genuinely the nicest man I’ve ever met. That guy could miss four open goals in a game and still be smiling, which I find incredible. It shows the kind of guy he is, and it’s really nice to have someone like that in your team – regardless of whether they miss or score, they’re still going to work hard. He knows he’s already got I don’t know how many goals so I don’t think he’s too fussed about missing one.”
That work-rate was on show in spades during a first-half moment when O’Riley lost possession and Furuhashi sprinted back the best part of 50 yards to win the ball back for him. Celtic were cruising at that point. “I remember it perfectly because I gave away the ball and he covered me nicely,” smiled O’Riley. “That shows the character of everyone in our team – it doesn’t matter who makes a mistake, someone else is going to be there to rectify it. I think we’ve shown that across the course of the season."
O’Riley himself feels like he is contributing more again. Moved to a deeper midfield role earlier in the season when McGregor was out in injured, he has been tasked with playing higher up the pitch in recent matches. Switching roles can be challenging for any player. “The initial transition took a bit of time, naturally, but I got quite comfortable playing in the deeper role by the end of it,” explained O’Riley. “It probably took me a bit of time to acclimate to that at the start, it took me three or four games to really start feeling comfortable, and it was probably the same when I went back up into the eight position. But now I’m feeling good.”
Just like everyone at Celtic, O’Riley is all about the collective – and that mindset is paying off in some style.