Alistair Johnston

Anyone have the clip of him singing along to live it up last night?

Love this guy.

 

Just want to take a break from the Ange stuff and say this guy has been unreal in the 6 months he's been here. Great character, smashing player...

 

True role model

 

He's been great but will he interesting to see he develops going forward.

It's fair to say hes not ur traditional attacking full back. He was brought in bcoz he fitted the inverted full back role brilliantly but not a lot of managers play that way and likelyhood he's gonna be asked to play a different way.

Similar issue on the other side with Taylor whos also thrived as an inverted full back but wasn't so long ago he was getting pelters due to his lack of pace or ability to beat a man.

 

Tbf he played the traditional full back role at Montreal. I've no concerns about him reverting back to that if it's what the new guy will be wanting.

What will happen with Taylor is a good question though...

 

Yeah I think AJ is good enough to play either role. Have my doubts about Taylor tho

 

Playing well. Canada are dire up top though.

 

Played 60 minutes had a decent game.

 

The lad Jonathan David that plays up top is a good player. Averaging better then a goal every 2 games for Canada and likewise for Lille in France. Scored 26 this past season in 40 games for Lille. He is only 23 as well. Quality striker IMHO. Didn't play well in this one against the Americans but he is quality.

 

You are probably right but every time I tune in to watch Canada they seem to be hopeless upfront and make silly mistakes in midfield that lead to them being countered

 

Yeah he is good, he went to Lille the summer Morelos was "rumoured" to be going to Lille but Lille didn't bid dembele dollars.

 

He is a good player, no doubt he proves that at club level all the time, internationally though his gials are a little inflated due to all the * teams he plays in north America, most of his goals are against the small teams, he's never scored against a USA or Mexico etc. And if course you can only beat what you're playing against, no belittling there,

 

So what your telling me is that its all your fault If only you would stop watching Canada they would be world champions before you know it

 

Interested to see how he progresses under Rodgers and how he fits into the system. He didn’t come inside often under Ange, it always seemed to be Taylor doing that.

 

Think AJ is a class act and will thrive under whatever way Brendan decides to play him. Might see him add one or two bits to his game under rodgers

 

There is plenty evidence to demonstrate just how impactful Alistair Johnston has been in a Celtic shirt.





But perhaps most telling is the fact no one really talks about Josip Juranovic all that much anymore. Johnston had a fiendishly difficult act to follow in replacing the Croatia international when an impressive World Cup campaign landed him a move to Union Berlin.

Johnston himself was in Qatar with Canada and knew he was taking over from a ‘special player’. But three winners’ medals from only 20 appearances suggests the 24-year-old right-back has done something right since arriving in Glasgow from CF Montreal.

And as he prepares for life under new manager Brendan Rodgers, Johnston feels ready to take his game to another level next season.




“It’s been a great fit for me,” he insisted. “No matter who was coming in, and Tony [Ralston] has done a great job at full-back, I like how I’ve played so far. But I think there’s another level to come with my game.

I think Josip, when you look at what he’s doing at Union Berlin, he’s been unbelievable. He was a special player for Celtic.

“To even earn a move like that says it all about him.

“Look, I think there’s still levels to my game I haven’t shown yet and that’s kind of exciting for me.”

From the outside looking in, you’d think Johnston has strolled life in Scottish football so far, but he revealed it hasn’t all been plain sailing. He revealed former manager Ange Postecoglou predicted the first six months would be a real test as he adapted to the nverted full-back role which proved so effective during the now Tottenham boss’ time in the SPFL, but that Johnston would reap the benefits of a full pre-season this summer.

There could now be another adjustment period for Johnston as Rodgers implements his vision for a new-look Celtic, but Johnston feels settled and credits his coaches and colleagues for supporting him through that bedding in period.


He [Postecoglou] told me the first six months would be difficult, a new system and a completely different way to play the position,” Johnston recalled. “But he felt once I got a pre-season under my belt I would be feeling a lot more comfortable. And I am feeling that.

“As well as people in the outside world think it’s gone, there have still been difficulties and struggles in the system. But I’m lucky, I’ve got a really got a good group of guys and coaching staff to help me.”

Fellow full-backs Ralston and Greg Taylor have been especially important in Johnston’s transition. He revealed the pair have ‘shown me the ropes’ despite it rarely having looked like the former Nashville SC defender needed much in the way of guidance.




Johnston believes he’s had it comparatively easy when he considers the significant adjustment which faced Celtic’s influx of Japanese stars. He points out that the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and others were dropped into a completely different culture where they didn’t speak the language. Johnston, by contrast, admits he’s never once felt out of place in Scotland.

“Tony, Greg, all these guys, have shown me the ropes,” he said. “They’ve helped make the transition as easy as possible.




Coming to a country where I don’t feel out of place also has helped. The year before they’d said the Japanese guys had come over in a similar situation, having played a full season and then coming to the SPFL it was difficult. They had to learn a whole new language and culture.

“But for me, growing up in a British household, speaks English, it really wasn’t that big a transition.”