With first team experience handed in recent weeks to both Joey Dawson and Ben Doak, it’s clear Celtic are looking to at long last create aspirational pathway plans for Celtic’s young players to gain first team experience with Ange Postecoglou’s senior group.
It seems a long time ago now, however one of the first of those players to be entrusted with a first team jersey was 18-year-old Dane Murray, who was thrown into Champions League qualifying against FC Midtjylland at Celtic Park, before following up in the return leg in Denmark.
Murray has been speaking to celticfc.com about that experience as he looks ahead to Celtic’s B-Team encounter with Vale of Leithen at the Penny Cars Stadium this Sunday and it’s an experience Dane appears to have learned a great deal from as well as being boosted by the trust Ange Postecoglou placed in his talents.
“That honestly benefited me so much. It shows that at the time the manager really trusted me, which is massive and I learned so much from those games. What did I learn? It taught me how to stand up and be counted for.
“No matter what your age or experience is because they were big pressure games and you have to perform. You have to be comfortable on the ball and be confident in yourself and trust exactly what you do. My ambition is to get back there and add more appearances but I’m not putting a time scale on things.”
And Dane Murray has been thriving at B-Team level and with loan moves and injuries impacting Tommy McIntyre’s player pool, Murray has taken on the B Team captaincy of late and is relishing the added responsibility.
“I was captain at Under 18 level, so it’s not new to me,” he said. “There’s a bit more pressure on you and you’ve got to lead by example. As a centre-back, you can see the game around you and I can use my voice to help my team-mates. There are different ways of showing leadership but for me, I need to be commanding through my performances and with my voice.”
Celtic are in the midst of a one-year experiment of playing a B Team in the Scottish Lowland League. It has been designed to offer competitive football to a group of young players who have been missing that part of their development in recent years and according to Dane it means Celtic, seen as a big target by the opposition, need to ensure levels of performance are high, just as will be expected against Vale of Leithen on Sunday afternoon.
“The Lowland League has been much better for us this year as you’re playing in games that mean something. Everyone wants to take Celtic’s scalp so we need to be at our top-level each week. We try and not get too ahead of ourselves because we know that even though we had a good win before against Vale of Leithen, they will make it difficult for us.”
This experiment with trialling a young Celtic side in a competitive footballing environment appears to have been a success and hopefully something similar can follow next season.
It certainly seems to be working, as it has allowed the likes of Dane Murray, Joey Dawson and most recently Ben Doak, to stand out at B-Team level and catch the eye of Ange Postecoglou, and that can only help the players at that level see the possibility of first team level can come from consistent performances for Tommy McIntyre’s side. Particularly when each player who has made the step up to date certainly haven’t looked out of their depth.
Niall J
