Anthony Ralston has dismissed any notion of a direct comparison between himself and Celtic’s legendary right-back Danny McGrain. The most improved Celtic player in recent memory at Parkhead has eclipsed the former captain’s goalscoring record and jokingly said he would take great pleasure in bringing it up in conversation the next time they bump into one another at Lennoxtown.
Ralston, speaking at yesterday’s Media Conference ahead of today’s gam against Blackburn Rovers said: “I hadn’t realised I’ve now scored more goals than Danny – I’ll need to mention it to him. He’ll love that! I don’t think I’ll ever reach Danny’s levels but at least that’s something I can have over him. It was nice to get compared to him, of course, but the one thing I’ve never done is get carried away over things that get said. I keep myself grounded and I have good people around me to keep my feet on the ground.
He added: “I’m not sure how Danny felt about being compared to me! I managed to get a few goals last season and a couple of big ones – I’ll take it. There were some individual moments but the most important is what we did as a team. There were big moments throughout the season and everyone to a man stepped up. That’s why we are champions. We need to do it again and it’s about the team rather than individuals.”
Ralston has managed 10 goals so far in his tenure, with the Celtic great McGrain only managing the 9 during his 18-year career in the game. Danny is still employed by the Hoops so will be in contact with the squad regularly and it will be good banter when Anthony next sees him. Although, I’m not entirely sure McGrain will be losing too much sleep with this information coming to light; after all, we’re talking about a man who Pele ran a full pitch to just shake hands with, such was his gravitas.
With the greatest respect to Anthony, I just couldn’t see that happening to the young Scotland international.
God loves a trier though!
Paul Gillespie
