Alistair Johnston

He was there aye

 

He was interviewed and said it was just a precaution coming off.

What a difference he makes to our team over Ralston. We looked so much more assured at the back and just his all round game is to get on the front foot and moving forward. To often Ralstons touch is slack, or he takes to long on the ball when an obvious pass isn’t on rather than moving the ball on and getting it in a better position.

 

Celtic right-back Alistair Johnston has praised the Hoops supporters after lifting the Scottish Premiership for the first time.

The defender, who only joined the Parkhead side in January, was collecting a winners medal for his second major honour in Scotland and he had nothing but good things to say about his time in Glasgow so far.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "It is really hard to put it into words, but I can see why a guy like Callum McGregor says that the feeling doesn't get old for him or James Forrest. It is something special.

"It is one of those ones and moments that you know you are going to tell your kids and grandkids about in the future. I am just enjoying it, soaking it all in and loving it.

"You can see how much it means to every single person inside this stadium. We are just glad that we can send this entire fanbase all across the world home happy and really cherish what we have accomplished this season and what we can hopefully accomplish in the coming weeks."

The Canada international was making his return from injury after picking up a knock against Rangers in the recent Scottish Cup final.

He played over an hour before being subbed for what he described as precautionary reasons.

"I am feeling good," he continued. "It was just for precautionary reasons and Tony (Antony Ralston) played unbelievably well when he came on.

"Whatever the manager decides for the cup final in a weeks' time we will be excited and ready and raring to go.

"It's a big week for us but this is a chance to finish it all off on a high note."

 

The guy is class. You can see how much he loves it here.

 

What a difference with him back.

 

A monster. A menace.

 

He's unbelievable.

 

It's class reading everyone's opinions on AJ. A rare occasion where everyone is in agreement....the boy is * immense. Crazy how am actually struggling to think of any player currently who I love more than him.

 

Please make the final you Canadian beauty.

 

Everything Celtic right-back Alistair Johnston had to say ahead of the Scottish Cup final against Inverness...

I take it the fact that you’re sitting here means that you're fit and raring to go?

I guess so? I’m not sure why I was selected to be honest. I was expecting Callum McGregor to get this job as usual! I feel good. I don’t think anyone at this point in the season is fully fit and it's just about getting through it. We've definitely done some work on it, so I feel like I'm in a decent enough place that if the manager needs me I’ll be ready to go.

It’s the game that you want to be a part of and that you don’t want to miss. How much will it mean to you if you go out there and win another trophy?

100 per cent. it’s an opportunity to lift another trophy. Again, I know the extraordinary becomes the ordinary a little bit at this club with how many trophies they’ve listed over the past decade. Still, for guys like me, this is my third-ever trophy in my entire career, and I know Callum’s probably on 40 or whatever it is, but even for him when you see how much excitement and joy it brings to him and guys like James Forrest – he might be on 50 for all I know! You can really tell how much it means to the guys. When you see that from the older guys who have been there and done that, especially as a new guy you're like “Okay, yeah, this is really big” Like I said, I’d love to be a part of it, we’ll see what the manager decides. But either way, I’ll be ready to go.


You go into most games domestically as big favourites, you lead into this one as huge favourites, how do you guard against any possible complacency?

It's human nature to be complacent. But at the same time in all of our league matches mainly you could probably say that we are the favourites going into them and again we just don’t let that kind of noise creep into it. I think there's a level of confidence in this group, which is deserved and warranted, but there's no arrogance. I think you can see that with how we play. We respect every single opponent but at the same time, we know that if we come out and stick to our game plan and we stick to the system the manager wants that we feel really confident. If we put in a performance like that then we will come out on top. So, it's no different this match, we respect them 100 per cent, and we know that again they’ve had 4 weeks off or whatever it is to prepare for us mentally and physically. So, they're going to know every little inside and out of our system but at the same time we’re ready for that and we understand that, and we've just got to stick to our system and our principles and if we do that we feel confident.

You seem like you’ve always really embraced everything that goes around this place and the occasion and the achievements to win the treble. You think back to your decision to come to this club. How will you look back on all of it if you get it over the line?

It's exactly why I signed up for this club. This is a club that trophies are expected and again when see over the past decade not only the trophies but the trebles that have been won, you kind of feel like you almost take it for granted a little bit that “Celtic won another one, it's not that big a deal.” But now being here and truly understanding and seeing the work that goes on behind the scenes and just the amount of effort that each guy puts in. It really rings true to me like wow, each one of these is special. Just because some guys have won a lot of them it doesn’t make that next one any less special. I'm just really excited to be in a position where I can potentially be walking out of here after six months of being here with a treble. I think that is everything and more that I could have asked for but again when I came in those were the expectations that were put on me and that’s what I was told was expected in this group: “Trophies or nothing”, so I'm truly happy that we're delivering for our fans so far but again this is going to be a big match at the weekend. It's not going to be easy but we feel confident in ourselves, and we’re happy with where we're at. We're in a really good place, so no we’re excited for this one.

You say that you don’t let the noise creep in. At the moment, there's so much noise surrounding the manager...

Oh, is there? I didn’t know!

Have you seen it?

Trust me, we all hear the noise and we've got Sky Sports on, and it seems like every other story that’s running is that one. It comes from the top down for us. Cal (McGregor) doesn’t let any noise in, and the gaffer definitely doesn’t let any noise, so this ship is steering straight where it needs to go – right to that cup final. Just don’t let that kind of stuff creep into the building in terms of letting guys’ heads turn or any of that. Again, that’s super important and I think that goes to show why this club has been so successful that we don’t let that kind of stuff affect players and you can always tell when someone’s head is turned or something’s going on and they play just a little bit off or they don’t truly feel all the way there but that’s not been the case at all at my time here, even when guys were leaving and guys did leave that January window – everyone was still training as hard as possible up to the day they left. I found that very impressive. Again, that comes from the top down, you're not allowed to have a wandering eye, and you're not allowed to have any of that here because if you do, you're going to get found out and the squad is so deep that you'll be out of the squad as quickly as that so that’s what we have here, and I think that’s really special. So again, I know there's a lot of talk, but we're not bothered, we’re not fussy or worrying about that, we're just focused on this cup final.

So, the manager this week, it's just been training as usual, he's just been his typical self?

100 per cent, yeah it's just been the gaffer as I know him, and I don’t think anyone was expecting anything different.




You’ve had obviously a short spell here so far; you’ve seen the potential of what Celtic can achieve. How much is there a feeling from you that with Ange at the helm and this squad that there is so much that you can still achieve together?

Yeah, it’s a great point. I've just gotten here, and he was a big reason - just talking to him and seeing how he plays in his goals for the club and his goals not only domestically but in the Champions League as well. I think that talking to the group – obviously I wasn’t here for the Champions League the run this year – but the guys felt that they left a little on the table in terms of getting more done and the performances were strong, but the results weren’t. I think everyone was really excited to have another crack at it. Again, I think with what we're building to is that this team since I've walked in the door – I feel like we've been flying. Obviously, we've had a bit of a down month or two but at the same time I think the training levels are there and we have a lot of really determined and hungry individuals that want to show at that level and prove that Celtic – just because we play in Scotland doesn’t mean that we can't compete with those kind of massive European clubs. So, I think that’s something that’s really important to us, and important to the manager as well. And again, so were really looking forward to that and that’s why it was important to make sure that we won the league not only for the trophy but also to make sure we’re in the Champions League and we have another chance for next year to really show the progression that we've made under the manager and that we’re even going to be a stronger team than the one everyone saw this past season.





That’s almost been the narrative of this week, of Spurs that Ange has been linked with, looking at the positives and negatives of Celtic and Spurs and seeing what's bigger and what club’s bigger. I suppose for you that’s an easy question, being here and seeing the trophies, does it make the club in that sense that this is a huge club with so much potential?

It’s a massive club. Again, it’s a worldwide brand. People who don’t even follow football know who Celtic are and I think that goes to show exactly how big this club is. Again, you look at the trophy haul that we have, it's impressive, it rivals anyone in the world. That’s important, that means something, not only to us as players but to the whole fanbase and that’s what makes it so special being a part of this. I've only been here five months, but I've already got a chance to add a third one since I've been here and I feel like I've played a small part, even if it's just a tiny part but I feel that I have helped this club’s history so that’s something that’s special to myself and at the end of the day that’s what football is about – winning matches and trophies. That’s something that we've been fortunate enough to do at this club. Hopefully, there's plenty more to come.

 

They should just let ask all the questions in these press conferences as well as answering them tbh.

 

Alistair Johnston reveals family's late Celtic dash, named being Googled and Ange Postecoglou message that has come true
Until he arrived at Celtic, Alistair Johnston had not won a major trophy and despite picking up two in five months, the novelty still hasn’t worn off. For him or his family




Which is why his mum Kathryn and dad Bill made the last-minute decision to jump on a plane and travel from their home in Canada to Hampden for Saturday evening’s Scottish Cup final and a shot at the treble. “It’s funny, but they didn’t actually fly out for the trophy presentation last week but they were seeing all the pictures from the celebrations on the pitch and stuff,” said Johnston. “We were at our team function later and it was late when I got a call. I thought ‘Who’s calling me at this time?’ It turned out it was my dad, asking me if I was enjoying myself and I told him it had been a great evening. He then told me they’d just booked flights because they felt they were missing out. So my mum and dad will both be out for the final, so that’s good. I think they’re excited.”

If his folks’ fear of missing out influenced their travel plans, there was relief in the Celtic ranks that the 24-year-old would not be an absentee this weekend. Injured in the semi-final victory over Rangers in his last visit to the national stadium, he sat out the majority of the post-split league matches, but made a welcome return for the trophy day thrashing of Aberdeen and is now hoping to wrap up a tremendous season with another piece of silverware. The fact his parents will be there to witness it and he hopes, perhaps even remember it just adds to the occasion.


My dad’s already been to Hampden, but my mum hasn’t experienced it so she’s excited,” said Johnston. “Hopefully we can seal it the right way and they can see a good celebration afterwards. My dad was there [at the Viaplay Cup final] and he was loving it. I’m not too sure he remembers it too well because he was enjoying himself quite a bit! All the other parents came up to him and they could tell he was probably the one who wasn’t 100-per-cent sure where to go. So they looked after him, which was really nice.”



Two trophies down and another in the offing, there are still ‘pinch me’ moments for the Johnstons. “My dad will always Google my name,” said the Canada internationalist. “I tell him it’s not a good idea because when it’s going well it’s going to be fun but when it’s not, it’s not going to be great. But he says: ‘Look, you go onto your Wikipedia or whatever and the first thing that comes up is winner of this and winner of this’. At the end of the day, you do want those accolades and accomplishments beside your name when you do hang it up.

“You want to look back and potentially show your kids and grandkids some medals so that they actually believe you did play. We’re professional athletes and we’ve made it to this level because we are uber-competitive in every facet of life and winning trophies is how you show you were the most competitive and most driven. That’s what we all want to be.”


For some in the squad, there are records to be claimed – Callum McGregor will become the first player in world football to claim five domestic trebles if Celtic can see off Inverness Caledonian Thistle – but for guys like Johnston, it is just the beginning. “Before I got here I’d never won a trophy,” he said. “Never really got close. So to have already won two is a great start and this is an opportunity to complete a treble. I think it can almost get lost just because of how many trebles this club has won in the past decade or so. But when you really look at it in the world of football, there are not a lot of players who have the opportunity to say they’ve won a treble. That’s not lost on us. We understand, especially us younger guys who’ve never done it before, how much that could possibly mean to us.”



Arriving in the January transfer window, on the back of appearing at the Qatar World Cup, things have panned out as promised for the Canadian right-back, who has been a prize asset for Celtic ever since. Manager Ange Postecoglou is reportedly set for talks with Tottenham early next week but Johnston knows that European ambitions remain unfulfilled and he is hoping that will be enough to keep the highly-regarded Aussie at Celtic Park.


Johnston recalled: “He [Postecoglou] said, ‘Look, once you get a taste of that World Cup and that kind of atmosphere, you’re going to want more of it. That’s something we can provide for you at Celtic, playing in front of 60,000 fans. It’s going to be super passionate.’ And he was right about that. It’s just something that you can’t get enough of.

“He also said that I was going to want to test myself at the next level, and that’s what it’s all about with the Champions League. Thankfully, we’ve taken care of business with the league and that automatically puts us into the Champions League next season. That excites me and all of this group.


“I wasn’t here for it earlier this season but the guys feel like they should’ve done more. They’ve kind of got their feet wet in the competition and this group really understands it now. They’ve had their first go at it with the manager’s system and now they want to go at it again — and really kind of show the world what we’re all about.

That was another of the things he pushed heavily on me — and it’s exactly that which has come true. Everything he said was exactly what I was looking for and it’s exactly what’s happened. I’m happy.”

 

I've learned to absolutely adore this Lad.
Incredible signing.