Greg Taylor

WHEN Celtic signed Alexandro Bernabei from Lanus in his native Argentina for a cool £3.75m back in June, it was unclear what the future held for Greg Taylor at Parkhead.

Would Taylor be able to retain his place at left back in Ange Postecoglou’s side at home and abroad in the 2022/23 season? Or would Bernabei be preferred in the specialist position?






Speculation was rife among supporters that the expensive new South American import would, despite being just 21, oust the Scot from the starting line-up.




Postecoglou, though, was always confident that having cover in the specialist position would enable him to get the very best out of Taylor in the forthcoming campaign.

And so it has proved so far.

The 24-year-old has been excellent both in defence and attack in Celtic’s opening cinch Premiership victories over Aberdeen at home and Ross County away.

The former Kilmarnock player has his critics in the stands and some fans would like to see Bernabei, who is waiting to make his competitive bow for the Glasgow club, given an extended run.




However, Postecoglou is a huge admirer of the man who made 35 first team appearances for him during his double-winning debut campaign in this country and anticipates that great things lie ahead.

“Greg is going really well this season,” he said as he reflected on his side’s hard-fought 3-1 triumph in Dingwall on Saturday. “But he was also going really well last season too.

“The way we play with our full-backs is a little bit different and Greg has adapted really well to it. He was really strong for us last season and has continued in the first games of this season.

“Greg has been great. He started the season okay last year and then he got that shoulder injury. He had to fight his way back after that, but he had a real good run-in towards the end of the season.

“Greg has started really well again, but he wants to get better. That’s the important thing - he wants to improve.


Greg is still a young man and I am pleased that he is continuing to develop his game. But I also think there are more levels to come from him.”

Taylor, Postecoglou is at pains to point out, is not doing so well this term because he is feeling under extra pressure to perform from the new arrival.

The Greek-Australian coach was short of cover at left back last season and had to field right back Josip Juranovic out of position on the other side of his four man backline on occasion – including in his opening game against Rangers at Ibrox in August - as a result.

He is optimistic that having Bernabei in his squad will help Celtic to perform to a decent standard on a consistent basis both domestically and in Europe and to avoid picking up injuries.

With Premiership, Premier Sports Cup and Champions League games to be negotiated before football shuts down for the Qatar 2022 finals in November, he will need to call on both men in the coming weeks.

The prospect clearly excites him.

“People will say I have brought in competition for Greg in Alexandro,” he said. “But I haven’t brought in competition, I have brought in a player who can hopefully allow Greg to be the best player he can be.

“You know, I look at last year and Greg was the only real left back we had at the club. We were playing Josip Juranovic at left back at times because of that.


There is always the risk that you overburden players in the full-back areas. So Bernabei coming in is really good for us as a group. It gives us depth in a key area, in a really important position for us.

“With the way we play, full-back is a real key area and I now have four players there that I have the utmost faith and confidence in.”

Postecoglou, who was a defender himself during his playing days Down Under, raised eyebrows last season when he asked, as Pep Guardiola famously does at Manchester City, his full-backs to invert.

He has been pleased with how Taylor has embraced the new demands on him and with how quickly Bernabei has taken his instructions on board during training at Lennoxtown.

The 56-year-old won numerous honours with South Melbourne and represented his adopted homeland Australia on four occasions as well.

But he is doubtful that he would have been able to change his game in the way that both of his charges have.

“It’s the most overrated position on the field!” he joked. “That’s why I am trying to eliminate the full-back from the line-up with the way we play!

“Seriously, though, Greg is nothing like me. He is a much better player than I ever was. I was a frustrated left winger and I am much happier seeing him play the way he is. I wasn’t inverted. I just used to just take off down the wing and leave my defensive duties.

“The full-back positions are obviously quite unique in terms of how we play compared to other models. It is just about making sure we provide all the players who play in those areas clarity on the advice we give them.


“All the full-backs at the club, even Bernabei, who has just come in, they have adapted to it very quickly. I think that is because we are very clear for the reason we want them to play that way.”

 

Been immerse so far in the 2 games we have played.

 

He finished last season immense, he’s upped it first two this season.

Last season, domestically the biggest games, he was potentially MOTM in them. Cup final he was immense, 3-0 he was immense, he scored in the semi final against them, 1-1 he was excellent, 2-1 at Ibrox he was immense.

Needs to get the credit by now. Not just big game performances, most games he’s a very important player for how we play.

 

IT may be fair to say that Greg Taylor had a bit to do to win over the Celtic fans upon his arrival from Kilmarnock three years ago. Whether it was the unfashionable club he was signed from, his slight build and lack of height, or the fact he was tasked with filling the boots of Kieran Tierney, the left-back wasn’t instantly taken to the hearts of many supporters.

Slowly but surely, he has started to win them round. From the start of last season, just as Anthony Ralston did on the other side of the defence, Taylor has taken to the unique demands that new manager Ange Postecoglou places on his full-backs with relish and has thrived in the inverted role he has been tasked to perform.




So much so that when Celtic invested £3.5m bringing in a new left-back this summer in Alexandro Bernabei from Lanus, the question being asked wasn’t whether or not this spelled the end for Taylor’s place in the starting XI, but whether Bernabei would be able to oust him from the team.

Thus far - though admittedly, it is early days for the Argentine - he has been unable to do so, with Taylor producing standout performances in both of Celtic’s opening Premiership fixtures; the home win over Aberdeen and last weekend’s triumph at Ross County.


The fact that Celtic manager Postecoglou has the luxury of bedding Bernabei into life at the club slowly is testament to the trust he has been able to place in Taylor, and the presence of such competition also looks to have pushed Taylor on to take his game to the next level.

Constant improvement is the mantra at Lennoxtown under the Australian, of course, and Taylor perhaps embodies that ethos as much as anyone in the Celtic squad. And if the Celtic fans are now appreciating his talents, it is probably because he is a far superior player to the one that first walked in the door back in 2019.

When asked how much he has improved since arriving at the club, he told Celtic TV: “Insane amounts to be honest, just from the amount that I have learned from the moment I signed to this day.


Every day we try and get better – it’s a mantra of the manager, don’t ever waste a minute of a training session or a game, so I try to continue to do that and try to improve every day.”

Taylor admits though that his Celtic journey hasn’t always been easy, being just as aware of the flak he has taken at various points of his time at the club as he is now cognisant of the praise he is earning.

“You do notice it,” he said. “Whether you try to avoid it or not, people send you the good or the bad. It’s an unfortunate – or fortunate – thing of living in Scotland and Glasgow. So it’s nice when things are going well and getting all these plaudits.

“It means a lot, of course, but you can’t really let it affect you either way. Just keep the focus on what you are doing and what the manager wants from you, and pretty much throughout my Celtic career, that’s what I’ve tried to do.

“The gaffer has a system in place that we all try to follow. We all have a small part to play within that and if we all do that and give ourselves to the team, we can all be relatively successful.”

The next step for Taylor is a return to his old stomping ground on Sunday, as Celtic look to maintain their winning start to the season against Derek McInnes’s Kilmarnock side.

Taylor will always appreciate the role the Rugby Park outfit played in his career, he is going there intent on one thing and one thing only; putting his old team to the sword.



Celtic manager Postecoglou expressed a little concern on Tuesday that the artificial pitch may hamper his team’s preferred style, but Taylor is sure that he and his teammates can put on a show for the huge support that will follow them to Ayrshire.

“It was an important stage in my career and I’m very grateful to the managers who gave me a chance there and I would like to think that I’ve repaid their faith in me,” he said.

“It was a successful period when I was there, but I’m now looking forward to going back as a Celtic player aiming to get the three points.

“We’ll just prepare the way we always do, train hard this week. It’s another good week’s break between the games so a good chance to get work into the legs of the boys who have been playing and not so we are all ready as a group for the game on Sunday.

“Winning is the best feeling in the world. We don’t want to lose that feeling. We want to do it with our football, that’s important.

“We’ve got a way of playing and a way we like to express ourselves and it’s important to express ourselves and win, it can’t be one or the other, it has to be both.”

 

Tbh he's been doing really well recently, I have come round to him being backup, but his form is justifying possi lu more, only problem I have is when it comes to Europe and huns games as still need to see if he has the steel and speed for it.

 

Considering he was excellent against them in the 3-0 and 2-1 wins, and scored against them in the 2-1 loss, I'd say he has very little to prove against them.

Europe I agree.

 

He’s the only guy trying to compete with Jota in a POTY competition now

 

Thought he was excellent, yet again.

 

His consistency lately is to be commended. Killie were targeting him all match and he dealt with it brilliantly.

 

Showing consistency now with these performances, his movement and positioning is excellent. Always in the right place whether its rotating, attacking or defending. Has an eye for a pass as well, his confidence must be sky high just now.

 

Another solid performance from him. Big Ange certainly knows how to bring out the best in players

 

Sensational.

 

Mental how he’s improved

 

What a signing Bernabei has been.

Wee man is on fire..what a ball for the first goal.

 

Well deserved MoTM. Him and Jota seem to really get on too. Great to see the team so close.

 

Best left back in Scotland just now.
And one of the first names on the team sheet for me.