Jeffrey Schlupp’s outstanding performance for Celtic in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night in the Champions League has got many Celtic supporters calling for the club to make him an offer in the summer when the 32 year-old’s contract with Crystal Palace comes to an end…
We’re going to look at how Schlupp’s impact at Champions League level could reshape the club’s thinking as contracts negotiations go on behind the scenes. Before that however here’s what Jeffrey Schlupp had to say at today’s media conference at Lennoxtown ahead of tomorrow lunchtime’s kick-off against Hibs in the Scottish Premiership at Easter Road…
Q: It’s been a few days now, how would you reflect on that performance versus Bayern Munich?
Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, I mean, I think obviously speaking to everyone about it and reading some bits, it’s obviously a really proud performance. You know, it’s a shame with the way the game ended, obviously, but I think everyone can appreciate the effort that we put into it and, you know, we went toe-to-toe with one of the biggest teams in the world and I think we’ve done everyone proud.”
Q: In terms of taking pride from that, how can you then use that confidence going ahead or how much confidence does it give the squad?
Jeffrey Schlupp: “Loads. I mean, it’s a confident squad anyway, but, you know, the talk was always about what can we then, what’s the next step, which was obviously try and show everyone that we can compete in Europe, you know, at knockout stages. You know, we just fell short, obviously, this game, but I think it gives everyone great confidence and improving to ourselves as much as everyone else that we can definitely compete with with the elite and that’s the main thing.”
Q: Falling short at that stage, how do you then make sure that doesn’t happen again next season?
Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, I mean, you obviously learn from every defeat. You know, obviously next season, that’s a whole other topic, but I mean, you know, again, you just got to live in the moment. We’ve just come away from the Allianz Arena, drawing against Bayern Munich which is a great result in itself. Obviously, we lost the tie on aggregate, but again, we take all the confidence from that, hopefully take that into next season, the club and then hopefully the club can get one step up.”
Q: You’ve only been here a few weeks now, but did you expect the club to compete against such a big club, you know, especially going over to the Allianz Arena, leading for a lot of the game? Is that what you thought before you arrived, that Celtic could go toe to toe with Europe’s biggest?
Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, I mean, I’ve always obviously watched Celtic play in the Champions League, but there’s been great results even before I got here. From when I got through the door, the first few games, I’ve seen the quality in the team and I mean, most of them have obviously written us off against Bayern Munich, but not us and not in the changing room, and I think everyone could see that with our performances in both games. We believed we could do something special. Again, we just fell short, but I mean, even from their camp, you know, everyone was saying how proud we should be, how much of a game we gave them and then again on another night, maybe we can see it through the 90 minutes and then, extra time, anything could have happened. But I mean, yeah, the quality is there for everyone to have seen and I definitely believed we could do something. We got a draw away to Bayern Munich, which is a big result.”
Q: What’s the manager been saying in the last few days? Do you have to refocus now, just turn your attention purely to domestic matters?
Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, for sure. We’ve got to focus on the league again now. Sometimes you get it where a team sort of, you’re on that massive high and then you maybe look at the next game against Hibs as, yeah, we’re supposed to beat them and then before you know it, you could maybe get an upset, which the manager’s making sure that we’re not in that kind of mindset. It’s another game on a mission to winning this league and everyone’s focused on doing that with hopefully a strong performance.”
Q: You had some shift personally the other night. Do you look back, or even in the game, do you relish that, are you loving it, like when it is so, I don’t know, like full throttle and 100mph, did you enjoy it the other night?
Jeffrey Schlupp: “Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, felt like everything was happening down my side to be honest. But yeah, you do enjoy it. You know you’re in a battle. You slide tackle and you’re running back, you’re giving everything and then the rewards is obviously massive, you know what I mean? Obviously, when you’ve got players, when you’re playing against top players, you don’t really have a choice but have to compete, which is what we all want to do, you know, I come to this club because I wanted to compete, I wanted to play games and to play in a massive game like that, it’s just bringing me joy obviously and I had great fun.”
Excellent signing.
He andJota have added quality and strength to the squad..
Kyogo’s fraility has been demonstrated again unfortunately in France.
Hail Hail.