Alistair Johnston

And * SportBible as well. It's lots of bollocks cos I thought he did well at WC.

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Any page that ends in Bible usually means clickbait and complete redirect * lol

 

Doesn't look like a replacement for JJ for me but I'm hoping to be proven wrong.

 

I think you're wrong, if that helps. Looks a really good player.

 

I'm not goni slag him but I haven't seen it yet. Give him some time though init.

 

Well done for signing him. I’m a CF Montreal fan, and casual Celtic fan, so I’ve watched him develop over the last few years. Many were shocked that Nashville “sold” (fake MLS dollars) him to Montreal this season instead of moving him to Europe outright, and over the last season, he’s been one of the best offensive right backs in the league. I know MLS is not viewed in the best light abroad, but he was one of the best players on a team that finished two points from top of the table (30 teams), so I certainly think he’s more than capable to make a seamless jump to Celtic and put up solid performances. I would take his Canada performances, which were not anywhere as poor as those FotMob numbers indicate (always unsure about catch all stats, but they’ve been particularly all over the place for the World Cup), with a grain of salt- watch some of his play from Montreal- he drifts forward a lot more for club and is much more of an offensive player. A lot more involved in moving the ball forward too.

He’s also got a lot of heart for what it’s worth, he’s exactly the player who would understand what playing for a storied club like Celtic is. This is a million miles down the road, but I can see him becoming a player the fans really latch themselves onto, much like Nashville’s, Montreal’s, and Canada as a whole have in the past.

For what it’s worth, most of Canada, from casuals who watched their first match ever at the World Cup to people who follow these guys obsessively have agreed that Tajon Buchanan was our best player at the World Cup- he’s also on that worst XI. Canada was not particularly good, but based on performances, those two certainly had better tournaments than some of our players who directly led to goals which directly led to losses.

 

Out of curiosity, do you think Kamal Miller could make the step up here? See Canadians online rave about him a lot, and he can play CB/LB too.

 

Good question. He could definitely hang with Celtic, but I think he's got a far lower ceiling than AJ. Kamal is an MLS all star, unflashy but extremely reliable guy who has played so well for club and country, but he was our most blatant example of a player who brought his A game to the world cup and simply wasn't good enough.

He's more than capable to play league matches for Celtic, but I think you'd see a lot of the issues we saw at the World Cup become apparent against Champions League opponents.

There's a massive push in Canada to get as many of our players playing in either Top 5 leagues, or consistent Champions League opponents (Celtic, Brugge, Porto, Benfica), but if the player doesn't play champions league, the question becomes whether a move is even worth it for the player. He's well paid at Montreal, he plays an hour's flight from home, he's all but guaranteed a 2026 WC roster spot, and he's due for a very nice raise once his next contract is due. Whereas you can tilt your head and see a future where AJ keeps improving is eventually sold on to the premier league or stays at Celtic for years, becomes a key player, fan favourite, potential captain, etc., with Kamal, I think he could probably hang at a club like Celtic for a few years, but he's probably back in MLS by age 30 (I think he's about to turn 26?).

All this said, there are some rumors that AJ and Kamal's backline partner, Joel Waterman, is attracting heavy interest in Europe, especially from Fenerbahce. JW is 27, plays CB/RB for Montreal, yet didn't play a minute for Canada at the WC, so if an older and lower quality player is on a turkish giant's radar, then maybe Kamal really has a long term future in Europe.

 

First time I can recall us signing a player in advance of one possibly going out, love the forward planning and thinking.
Hope this continues.

 

We signed Bolingoli before KT left but let's never mention that again

 

Ange has said he brought in O'Riley in January because Rogic had made it known he was leaving early in the season.

 

Dunno if I'll take to him! his black and white photo looks like my ex girlfriend from years back but with less hair .........

 

I have to admit, if we are replacing Josip I'd expect us to bring in a RB already at his level or better. If we are selling and then bringing in players with potential who aren't quite there yet we put ourself back quite a few steps rather than building a team fit to compete at the UCL. Which I thought was the whole point of our transfer strategy.

 

Not always going to be possible to bring in as good as or better for the specific position but we if we bring in 2 other players then the team can still improve as a whole.

 

Right back and Left Back are too important to our system for that to be the case. We've seen what happens when Bernabei (another player with huge potential but not there yet) plays against tougher opposition, it ain't pretty. Don't see Ange taking a chance like that. With a 9pt gap Ralston as our first choice for remainder of season wouldn't cause much worry. But from here I don't see how AJ puts us in a stronger position for next years campaign domestically or in Europe.

I'm happy enough with the signing and think he has potential for the future. But if he has really been brought in to replace JJ now then I'm sceptical how ready he is for that.

 

Just look at Ralston 6 months after his preseason, looked terrible, fans claiming he'll never be celtic class, I totally get that and mega chuffed he's been able to turn the naysayers around (i was one of them). 6 months in football is alot of time, not only as a player but as a teammate too. I've no doubts he will improve this year ready for a go at the ECL next year.

 

I'm certainly not writing him off, I think he's an exciting prospect and I'm sure will develop well under Ange. My worry is that if we are selling in January we need players ready to hit the ground running and already at the level of the player they are effectively replacing.

 

Why would anyone write him off? He's a Ange signing ffs..

 

He was in the MLS team of the year in a better league than our own(overall) and done ok against decent opposition at the world cup. I get your point though. I must admit, when we knew that we were going to be selling JJ for £12m to £15m, I really thought we would push the boat out and get someone like Yan Couto or Sugawara in for £7m. It does seem, initially on paper, that this is a slight step backwards.

Maybe Ange and the board see this as the perfect time to sell JJ when his stock is at his absolute highest. Which does make sense. Decent world cup so far, teams were interested in him during the summer transfer window. Maybe the board look at it and think we can eek another couple of million out of someone.

If JJ going funds the rest of our January business and more specifically, a striker like Cho, I can see why we are doing it though. One thing we absolutely lacked in the Champions League was a top class finisher and we know Cho can deliver on that.

Back onto Johnstone though, he looks strong, quick and has a much better final ball than Ralston and JJ. I'm excited to see how he fits in and hoping that he is able to slot right in within a couple of weeks. Is he as good or better than JJ? I guess time will tell but his analytics were very very good. So, here's hoping that with the way Ange coaches players, we can see more of the same we have so far.

 

Selling any of our starting XI in January always gives me the jitters, even with a healthy gap I would always rather wait until sunmer but you make good points.