Scott Robertson has confirmed that his time at Celtic is coming to an end after reports earlier this week indicated that the midfielder would not be offered a contract extension at the end of the season. The 21 year old will sit down with Ange Postecoglou today to hear from the manager that his time at Celtic is coming to a close but the midfielder has already heard the news via his agent who has spoken to the club about the situation.
Celtic have confirmed this to the player’s agent and also advised that Robertson will not get any game-time between now and May as he is not in Ange Postecoglou’s plans for the rest of this season. That will allow a free transfer move to take place in the January window with the player’s agent now actively looking at options, with St Mirren, and Scott Brown’s Fleetwood Town already mentioned as interested parties.
“I’m weirdly looking forward to getting a new team, facing a fresh challenge and playing regularly. The manager will have a meeting with me on Thursday to tell me what’s been decided but I’m already aware of the situation,” the 21 year-old Celtic midfielder told Daily Record.
“My agent told me last week after he’d been on a phone call with the manager and chief executive Michael Nicholson and they told him I couldn’t be guaranteed game time and there wouldn’t be a contract extension next summer. I’ve missed that feeling of getting ready for a game on a Saturday and gaining that consistency which playing week after week brings.
“Whether I move in January or in the summer remains to be seen but I’m excited about what the future will bring. It’s about waiting to see if the right club comes along and taking careful consideration of the options out there,” Robertson said.
The player has been part of the Celtic squad this season after completing his most recent loan spell at Crewe but has not had any game-time at all other than a quarter of an hour during the trip to Australia.
“Going to Australia wasn’t a shot in the arm or anything like that as I’m quite switched on when it comes to the realities of football. You get a feel for how things are when you’re in training in Lennoxtown every day.
“I only played against Sydney for about 15 minutes and I don’t have any minutes for the first team this season so I had the gut feeling my time at the club was nearing an end. Now there’s so much to look forward to as a new chapter in my career is about to begin and I’m going to relish that.”
For such a young lad, Robertson comes across as mature, intelligent and capable of dealing with the disappointment of not making it happen at Celtic. He appreciates the scale of the task trying to break into the first team at a club as big as Celtic.
“Ever since the gaffer came into Celtic he’s spoken about trying to build something special. Part and parcel of that is bringing new players in and others will leave. It’s a brutal business and this January will see others come and go and it’s just the nature of football.
“I wouldn’t use the word ‘frustration’ over my attempts to become a first-team regular but you are always told as a young player here you need to be better than all of the players who are brought in. That’s a fact of life at a club of this size and the challenge to every academy player – and it’s easier said than done.
“You know what you are letting yourself in for and the gaffer believes he has better players than myself in the midfield positions and I need to respect that. It’s now my job to go on in my career and prove him wrong. The biggest thing for me over the last four months has been training every week and knowing it’s going to take a few injuries for me to get a first-team game. I couldn’t have asked for a better grounding.
“Playing against CFR Cluj in a Europa League group stage game under Neil Lennon in 2019 was a real highlight but I’ve got to ensure there is a new and successful chapter about to open for me. Celtic are a massive club and carry a large squad and the competition for a start is so fierce it’ll always mean it’s tough for any young player but you wouldn’t swap the chance to try and do that for anything.”
