I made my fan media debut at a media conference for The Celtic Star yesterday afternoon interviewing new Bhoy, Aussie Marco Tilio. My first question led to many a headline, and it was a one many folk would want to ask to be fair. Had Marco ever met Ange? Well Ange is an Aussie and Marco is an up and coming Aussie star who’s apparently been on Celtic’s radar for a while so it’s a pretty obvious question to ask.

Marco said that he’d never met or spoken to Ange before and that he’d only heard from past players who’d worked under him previously. He also adding that he knew all about the great work Ange had done at the club, but says he can’t wait to get started under Brendan.

Marco’s idol is Lionel Messi and much like the great man and most dynamic wingers he’s a bit on the short side. Although what he lacks in height he more than makes up with his stocky build, something that will benefit him greatly in the physicality of the Scottish game.

Marco comes to Scotland with a great reputation and is highly regarded in his home country. The fee Celtic paid for him is indeed a record fee received for a player in the Australian A league. Big things will be expected of Marco in his homeland, hopefully he can deliver.

Marco has a good pedigree. He’s won several honours with Sydney FC and Melbourne City. He was also named in the Australian squad at the last World Cup. That’s an impressive CV, but Celtic will be a different ball game. The pressure of performing in front of 60,000 supporters who demand nothing put perfection, and competing for a place against Quality players is a new hurdle for Marco to overcome. He’ll need good mental strength to go with his obvious talent to succeed at Celtic.

One man who can help Marco achieve success at Celtic is of course first team coach Harry Kewell.

SOCCER AUSTRALIA ECUADOR, Marco Tilio of Australia during the soccer match between the Australian Socceroos and Ecuador at CommBank Stadium in Sydney, Friday, March 24, 2023. Photo STEVEN MARKHAM

Not just because he’s a fellow Aussie and legendary one at that, he also played the same position as Marco and will no doubt be a great help in improving the youngsters game. Marco will learn a great deal from Harry.

Mark Viduka, Tom Rogic and Aaron Mooy are Australians who left an impression on the Celtic supporters, will Marco add his name to that impressive list? Let’s hope so.

Best of luck Marco and welcome to Celtic! Here’s Marco speaking to the Celtic fan media yesterday afternoon, including myself, representing The Celtic Star…

JustAnOrdinaryBhoy – follow on Twitter @ordinarybhoy

HUGE SAVINGS IN THE CELTIC STAR’S SUMMER SALE!

The Celtic Star’s Summer Promotion has been so successful, with hundreds of books at great prices being posted to Celtic fans all over the world, that we’ve decided to continue with the sale until the end of July. We’ve reduced all six books currently available from their usual retail price of £20 and prices are as low as £6 (see below).

All books are high quality hardback, with some signed by the author. And it’s also worth noting that you only pay postage on one book, so it’s free for the second, third and so on. ORDER HERE or click on The Celtic Star image above…this is how it feels to be Celtic!