'There wasn't a full togetherness' - Ex-Celtic player reveals Parkhead cliques and discusses 'win-every-game' mentality

Cameron Harper battles for the ball with Hibs defender Ryan Porteous during the American's only first-team appearance for Celtic

Former Celtic forward Cameron Harper has admitted that there were “cliques” during his time at Parkhead – in both the reserves and the first team.

In a wide-ranging interview with American Soccer Now, the 20-year-old New York Red Bulls player discussed the upcoming MLS season under former Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber as well as reflecting on his time in Scotland, which he stressed had been largely positive.

"I think one thing at Celtic that sometimes did lack – in terms of our reserves or our first team – there were kind of cliques, and there wasn’t a full togetherness,” the New York Red Bulls player said.

"There’s a good spirit [at NY Red Bulls]. Everyone wants to work hard for one another.”

Harper’s contract with the Hoops was due to expire in the summer and while the player sat down with the club to discuss extending his deal, the two parties failed to see eye to eye once talks were under way.

The Sacramento-born attacker had been talked up by the Celtic coaching staff at the start of the 2020/21 campaign but by September he began to sense a change.

Harper explained: “When they shipped me back down to the reserves, that’s when I got it tough because there’s only a few guys there. There are about five to ten guys there per day and people were out on loan.

"I would say maybe in September, it was getting pretty bad in terms of my place there. I was still playing games, so it was okay, [but] leading up to December, January when I had a good idea about leaving, that’s when it got a little bit uncomfortable.”

Harper’s sole first-team appearance came in January during a 1-1 draw with Hibs at Celtic Park; the American getting his chance after more than a dozen first-team players as well as manager Neil Lennon and assistant boss John Kennedy were advised to undertake a period of self-isolation after being identified as close contacts of another senior player who had tested positive for coronavirus following the club’s controversial trip to Dubai.

Despite that, Harper insists that his time at Celtic was mostly beneficial, revealing the step up in intensity from playing youth football in California to turning out for the Bhoys’ youth teams had impressed up on him the importance of focusing on his development in order to improve as a player.

"I went from playing in the Development Academy in California – which wasn’t even an MLS team so it wasn’t too serious – straight to an environment where event at Under-18 or Under-23 level we needed to win every game,” he said.

"I realised I had to take my development very seriously if I wanted to improve. People sometimes say, ‘oh it’s about development over winning’ and I agree, but when you need to win every game, that’s when you also develop because you can’t just take games off.”

Harper will hope to feature in the Red Bulls’ opening game against Sporting KC on April 18, but in the meantime could get minutes against Inter Miami, Tampa Bay Rowdies, and DC United in the New York side’s pre-season friendly matches.

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