Celtic
How Alistair Johnston silences Celtic title race noise as he rhymes off 3 veterans inspiring title belief
The first rule of fight club is: You do not talk about fight club. And now that he’s been roped into the middle of the Glasgow version, Alistair Johnston is learning to come up with some coping devices of his own.
Stay off social media, at all costs. There’s little or nothing to be gained from disappearing down that rabbit hole at a time when the madness is being cranked up to 11 all around. And if there’s a need to find something else to occupy the mind after training, then find a new hobby to while away the rest of the day. For Johnston, that hobby comes in the shape of his doting pet black labrador Salem.
Long walks in the country air are what the Canadian relies upon to escape from the cauldron bubbling up on his doorstep. And he’ll have been for a few of them over the last couple of days, ever since Celtic ’s spell was burst at Tynecastle amid heated accusations of some sorcery going on in the VAR bunker of Clydesdale House. Johnston’s manager may have been seduced into believing that black magic was to blame for his side’s 2-0 defeat.
But, while Brendan Rodgers may get his fingers burned on Hampden’s sixth floor for promoting the idea that some sort of hocus pocus was to blame for this latest slip-up, Johnston is trying his best to block out the building noise.
“Me? I don’t find it difficult,” the full-back said when asked how it feels to be dragged into the hysteria surrounding an Old Firm title battle. “If you are on the social media platforms you will maybe get a bit of it – but a lot of us don’t really read that stuff. You just keep doing what you do in your normal life.
“All of us have hobbies outside of football so we just stick to that. I have a dog – a black lab called Salem – so I walk the dog and do things like that. The days pass and you can just focus on other things and not get too wound up about a title race.”
And yet, even though he’s a relative newcomer to this part of the world, Johnston is well aware of how it works here, as well as the inherent dangers which come with all of its obvious distractions. At the age of 25 – and with only 18 months’ experience of Scottish football’s old curiosity shop under his belt – he can hardly be considered as one of the veterans inside the club’s Lennoxtown HQ.
But Johnston has an old head on young shoulders regardless. And he’s using it to help protect some of the most recent arrivals from the storm which is sweeping in from the Campsie Hills outside. With a nod of the head he said: “It is not always easy, especially for the new guys. They maybe haven’t felt this kind of pressure before and scrutiny from living in a city that is this football mad.
“The older guys are here for them. We just kind of block out the noise.”
Pointing a finger towards the first-team dressing room, he continued: “All that really matters is what is in that room over there and at the end of the day what is in that room is what is going to take us to the title or not. It is down to us, it is in our control. There is nothing more to add.”
And yet the strength of Celtic’s unity is being tested nonetheless. Johnston returned to action at Motherwell 10 days ago after recovering from a facial fracture and played a huge part in a second-half recovery mission, setting up Adam Idah’s crucial injury-time goal. He supplied even more chances as Celtic followed that dramatic late win up with a seven-goal trouncing of Dundee.
But Sunday’s loss to Hearts has raised more questions about the spirit inside Celtic’s camp as the champions. Former Rangers boss Graeme Souness claimed his old rivals may not have the “bollocks” to get across the line in first place.
Johnston won’t be buying into any of that either. He said: “Interesting. I haven’t heard the disjointed part. But the locker room is really together again.
“We have got great leaders. We have got guys like Callum McGregor, Joe Hart and James Forrest who have played in difficult run-ins and lifted all kinds of trophies. There are quite a few guys in that locker room who won it last year and who understand what it takes to win. So I think there is that confidence and that self-belief there for sure.
“With it being Joe’s last season we want to send him off right. So there are things like that. The confidence is definitely there, the togetherness is there, I haven’t really noticed any difference from last year when I came in to this year.
“There is still a really good group of guys who come in here and work hard every day and who fight for each other. I am really excited for these next few months, it is a chance to play our football. If we do that, anything is possible.”
Pat Bonner explains why Celtic are ‘not the same’ under Brendan Rodgers following Hearts defeat
Celtic were dealt a blow in the Scottish Premiership title race after falling to a 2-0 defeat away to Heart of Midlothian yesterday.
Despite being beaten at Tynecastle, the Bhoys remain two points behind Rangers in the table by virtue of their loss to Motherwell the day previous.
Unsurprisingly, VAR decisions will dominate the headlines for days to come, and Celtic were on the end of two developments in the capital that infuriated Brendan Rodgers.
Firstly, Hyunjun Yang was sent off for a high challenge on Alex Cochrane; however, there wasn’t a great deal of malicious intent in his action to try and win the ball.
Tomoki Iwata can count himself extremely unlucky to have been penalised for handling the ball just before the interval, which even Kris Boyd described as an ‘awful’ judgement call from the officials.
Jorge Grant stepped up to fire his side into the lead, making no mistake from the spot before Lawrence Shankland put the game beyond doubt in the 56th minute.
Of course, we also have our own profligacy to thank for our downfall, given that Adam Idah spurned a chance of his own from 12 yards out.
Nevertheless, Rodgers called out the refereeing on display in his post-match press conference, stating: “I never like to comment on officials; it’s not something I do. But that cost us today. The officiating from on the field to John Beaton being on VAR, that was really, really poor.”
Pat Bonner says Celtic are ‘not the same’ under Brendan Rodgers
It goes without saying, but Celtic have changed quite a bit since the relentless days of last season, when we were well on our way to winning a treble at this stage.
Either way, there is still a double to play for between now and May, which the support and players would revel in amid the insatiable hunger for silverware at Parkhead.
Analysing the Bhoys’ defeat to Hearts, former Hoops goalkeeper Pat Bonner has admitted he feels his old side are ‘not the same’ as they once were, and he has also questioned the ability of some of the individuals on show.
Bonner stated [BBC Sport]: “Not the same Celtic. Is this the same Celtic we saw last season? No. Things have definitely changed in terms of intensity, maybe players not up to scratch. The bench was weak today.”
Celtic need to try and move past their latest stumbling block
As frustrating as it is, the show must go on, and Celtic have nine league matches to prove they possess the mettle to usurp Rangers to win a third title in succession.
The Scottish Cup quarter-final will offer a different challenge next weekend, where Livingston travel to Parkhead in a tie where the winners can book their place at Hampden.
Considering that Rodgers’ men have a full week to recover from their latest disappointment, there should be no excuses for failing to see off the West Lothian side to reach the last four of the competition.
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