Alistair Johnston has insisted he is more than happy at Celtic Park, despite rising interest in his services from various quarters and hints that his national team coach wants him to player in a more competitive league…
The Canadian full-back has been a mainstay in the current Celtic side since Ange Postecoglou brought him to the club back in January of 2023, where he replaced the departing Josip Juranovic, who went on to sign for Union Berlin of the German Bundesliga.
Replacing Juranovic was no mean feat
Replacing Juranovic was no mean feat, as the Croatian had brought poise and elegance to the full-back role under Ange and raised the bar in terms of quality for sure. Johnston however, had his own set of ideas about how the game should be played and contrary to Juranovic, enjoyed the rough and tumble of the challenge and getting physical with the ball and opposition during the match, as well as linking up well with his teammates’.
When Postecoglou then left for pastures new, Johnston, along with the rest of the team for a spell, struggled to get to grips with what his new manager required from them and a season of transition was required. Having said all that, this term the team has played far better and more consistently and Johnston himself has been tremendous at certain points, particularly when teaming up with his teammate Nicolas Kühn, on the right side of the field.
‘That is the Celtic standard’
Alistair Johnston got a stern reminder of what can happen when you’re not at the top of your game and at it all the time last Sunday afternoon, when our Glasgow rivals took a rare victory at Paradise.
Whilst on international duty with his country this week, he said, as reported by The Guardian: “That’s the pressure that you need to enjoy. That is the Celtic standard. It is taxing mentally but it means so much when you’re at a club like that. I see what the club means to people. I understand that if I’m a fan of a club like this, what would I like to see from my players? I’m honest with my work, defensively love a tackle, love being physical.”
“I’m a bit football mad. I love the city”
AJ continued: “I’m a bit football mad. I love the city. [It’s] the biggest fish bowl in all of Europe. Everyone knows who you are. You don’t know if they love you or hate you but you know they know who you are. I’m not famous outside of maybe a 30-mile radius of Glasgow city centre … but what a radius.”
‘I don’t take for granted what an unbelievable opportunity this club has given me’
On what his immediate future holds, the right-back is in no rush to leave Scotland as he feels very settled at the minute, plus his dog is Scottish, so that would be an issue in of itself! “I’m in no rush to take a Scottish dog out of Scotland,” Alistair Johnston says. “That’d be its own challenge. I don’t take for granted what an unbelievable opportunity this club has given me.”
Paul Gillespie
