What about Matt O’Riley and how you helped develop him as a player?
“I think it’s everyone’s contribution and none’s bigger than the player himself. When I came in last summer, he obviously never had the goals tally and he never had that end product to his game. I think he probably felt the trust that I’d given him to play lots of minutes and develop his game. And obviously, all the coaches do great work with him. But I think for Matt, it’s been a real, real pleasure to work with him.
“I have to say, as a coach who’s coached many players, he did everything he could to be the best player that he could be. His behaviour, his decency all the way through pre-season was absolutely a joy to see. From a young player who’s got the riches of the Premier League in sight, he never lost his focus on Celtic. And even right up to the very last day, we’d finished, we had a lighter session on his last day, but he stayed out to do that extra little bit with the coaches. He has just been an absolute joy to work with.
“When you work with a player like that, you want them to succeed. Celtic won’t be the end game for some of these players, but it’s going to give them so much. And he leaves here now a winner, a better footballer and ready to play for any team in the world. When you play for Celtic and the pressure, and you become a winner, he can go on and play for most teams in the world now. His behaviour was second to none. He’s a good guy and I hope he does well. We continue because that’s an opportunity now for some other players to come into here and take that on.”
Is that the same message you use to sell the club to prospective signings?
“It’s the model of the club. I think for any player coming in, you only have to look at the history of it. Like I say, for some players, Celtic is the end game. Callum, James, these guys, they love being here; they’ve had opportunities to move, but have stayed happy in Scotland. They’re happy playing for Celtic and happy winning trophies. For other players that maybe are outside of that, it’s different, but that’s OK. We have to accept that. There’s an opportunity here.
“The experience that you can gain on and off the pitch will be unrivalled. The opportunity to play in a dominant team and deal with pressure. Because, OK, it might not be the Premier League up here, but in terms of pressure and resilience and mental fortitude, that’s at the very highest level. If you can cope with that here, you can cope with it anywhere. Matt will find a difference, leaving here, the pressures and going to Brighton. But for any player coming, it’s a wonderful opportunity to develop your game.”
Why has recruitment taken so long this summer?
“There are a number of things I won’t go into here. But it’s definitely something – having come back in and gone through three windows now – we have to put right as a football club. We shouldn’t have been getting into this last week in the position we’re in. That’s the reality. However, that’s something for us after this window. As I said, we’ll get the players in that we want. We don’t need to manufacture our own stress when there’s no need. We don’t need to do that. So we’ll be calm this week. We’ll look to get the players in that can strengthen us.”
Featured image: Matt O’Riley – Instagram
Callum McFadden 