Tom Rogic was quietly confident that Ange Postecoglou would work his magic at Celtic this season and as soon as his former Australia national manager was announced as the new Celtic boss that essentially made the long serving Celtic midfielder’s mind up that he’d like to hang around and enjoy continuing to play his football under a manager he knew well and respected immensely.
And this week, with his nomination for PFA Scotland Player of the Year – as voted by fellow Scottish Premiership players – Rogic assessed the season so far and the progress that has been made after what was a fairly turbulent start to be in such a strong position going into the last four games of the campaign, six points ahead at the top of the league, looking down on theRangers.
🗣️”I’m happy here. I’m working in an environment I’m enjoying.”
Tom Rogic opens up about his relationship with Ange Postecoglou and insists while he’s not thinking about the future, he’s happy at Celtic👇 pic.twitter.com/SEuq8V5NDT
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 28, 2022
“A season is always difficult, always quite gruelling, and you always have to earn it. Particularly at the start of the season, we were written off quite early,” Rogic said, as reported by Scottish Sun. “To perform the way we have is the most pleasing thing. Off the back of the hard work, results have come. It’s been really good. It’s been a long and difficult season, but one that has been really enjoyable so far.
“We’ve enjoyed some success, but we still have four games left and we want to finish the season as strongly as possible.
“It’s funny sometimes when people write you off early. I don’t think it’s extra motivation, but it’s nice sometimes to prove people wrong. We knew if we played to our ability and the level of effort was there, the results would come.
“If you look at the start of the season and the amount of players who played virtually after they signed, it took a bit of time to get everyone together. But once it did, we gelled pretty good.”
“I have been at Celtic a long time and I have seen a lot of players come and go. There was a lot of work to do from where we were at the end of last season to where we are now.
“It’s been an enormous transition and probably the manager deserves the most credit for that. He has got us playing a really exciting brand of football that everyone has bought into and everyone is working extremely hard.
“I have worked with the manager for a number of years in the national team and I knew him well enough to a certain degree. Once you have experienced working with him, you know that he treats everyone the same way. There’s no preferential treatment for anybody.
🍀🏅 #CelticFC & @CelticFCWomen‘s @PFAScotland nominees:
Player of the Year:
✅ McGregor
✅ @Tom_RogicYoung Player of the Year:
✅ AbadaWomen’s Player of the Year:
✅ @cwellings18
✅ JacyntaWomen’s Young Player of the Year:
✅ Jacynta✊ 𝙒𝙀. 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍. 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋. ✊
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 27, 2022
“Boys asked me questions and things like that. But they found out pretty quickly how he was and how he works.
“There’s been a big transition, a big change. It happens at clubs and some seasons have bigger transitions than others. Thankfully, we have been able to gel together as quickly as possible, with a number of good signings who have fitted in pretty well.
“You never know what is going to happen in football. I had an idea how we were going to go about our business, but it’s a funny game and things don’t always work out the way you plan. It’s been a collective effort that has brought us some success and, hopefully, some more in the future.
“It’s nice to have that recognition from your fellow professionals. But Callum and I are well aware that individual recognition comes off the back of the group. I dare say a good number of our boys could have been in this position we are in. It could be any number of players who are here for this award.”
𝙒𝙀. 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍. 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋. ✊#CelticFC‘s Callum McGregor and @Tom_Rogic have been nominated for the @PFAScotland 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 award 🏅
Best of luck, Bhoys! 🤞🍀 pic.twitter.com/DScYCZ7gEn
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) April 27, 2022
