Anthony Ralston looks forward to what’s ahead for him personally and of course for Celtic in 2022 and also looked back at the remarkable transformation from a player seemingly coming to the end of his time at Celtic after a frustrating few years out of favour and on the sidelines of the first team to a regular starter and a strong candidate for Celtic’s player of the year under new manager Ange Postecoglou.
Ralston’s strong family bonds have served him well throughout his journey from a young school boy signing For Celtic to a first team star with plenty of challenges in between that perhaps few others could have negotiated so successfully to get to where he’s at today. And for Ralston there’s no consideration at all of going elsewhere, as other prominent Scottish players have done in recent years (Armstrong, Tierney, Christie etc) because for Ralston it’s all about playing for Celtic.
“I’ve got a huge family support behind me,” family man Ralston told Scottish Sun. “Right back from when I was a kid, there have been ups and downs. But every step of the way, from a young age, they’ve always been there to support me. They’ve been the ones who always believed in me — even when others didn’t. So I owe them a massive thanks for supporting me through the hard times as well as the good.
“I became a father when things weren’t going well with my football but that motivated me to give my daughter the best life possible. Mila turns two in February. When things weren’t going too well, that really pushed me to come in every day and work as hard as I could. I knew if my chance came, I had to take it for her.
“There was a lot of motivation from fatherhood, my family and also just from myself. I want to make the best career I can for myself because I’ve worked ever so hard since I was a kid. I wasn’t going to let the opportunity go when I got it.
“A lot has gone into this so far and I’m delighted to be where I am now. Mila was born just before lockdown so it was a tricky time for everyone. But it came at the right time for me personally because it motivated me to come back and push myself to the limit.”
Such has been his remarkable progress for Celtic this season, Ralston has even forced his way into the Scotland set-up under Steve Clarke and he made his Scotland debut in the win over Denmark in the recent World Cup qualifier. He’s become a favourite with the Celtic Support and has the full backing of his manager Ange Postecoglou. Ralston himself struggles to understand the extent of the most remarkable turnaround in football fortunes that he’s experienced this season.
“It’s a bit mental. I haven’t really had a chance to sit back and think about it. But I’m sure when that time comes, it’ll be something I’m really proud of from a personal point of view. To come from where I was at the beginning of the season to where I am now, it’s been a massive turnaround. I’m proud of myself for what I’ve managed to achieve.
“But it is only the beginning for me. It’s no secret I want to play for Celtic. I want to have my career here. I want to keep going in this direction but I’m delighted by how the season’s gone so far, because I feel I’ve contributed to the team in such a positive way. I hope I can continue that in the second half of the season.”
With Celtic struggling badly last season, especially defensively and most notably perhaps at right-back (one of the reasons why Shane Duffy did so badly at Celtic was because we was continually being exposed by our right back failings) neither Neil Lennon nor John Kennedy when he took over towards the end of the dreadful campaign had any faith in playing Ralston. He got one game against Hibs last January when Celtic were being subjected to the latest Covid punishment rules that only ever were applied to us – and created a brilliant chance for Armstrong Oko-Flex to tap in the winner. That missed sitter summed up Celtic’s season and the flawed judgement in our coaching staff saw Ralston banished back into the wilderness for the midweek trip to Livingston.
Looking back at last season Ralston said: “I didn’t get much game time last season and was coming to the end of my contract. It was normal to think my time here was coming to an end. But I never gave up. I had the opportunity to extend for a year so I took it. And through that, I got playing.
“In the last few months, I’ve signed a long-term contract. Things change so quickly. You have to just stay positive, keep the right mindset and work hard. That’s what I did.”
One personal disappointment this season could have been the decision by Ange Postecoglou to go with Josip Juranovic for last month’s League Cup Final against Hibs and have Ralston on the bench at Hampden. That’s not an issue though with the player who knows how to handle this type of situation.
“These things happen but you can’t get too high on the highs or low on the lows. We’re all together now as a team. It’s not about me or any other individuals. We got success from that day which is the main thing. We won as a team that was the mentality I had that day at Hampden.
“Listen, I’ll have lots of ups and downs in my career — it’s never going to be plain sailing. But I’ve learned that you need to stay positive through it all. You have to keep working and that’s what I’ll continue to do. Overall, there’s been a massive amount of progress made as a club since the gaffer came in.
“Every player has progressed. As a team, we’ve been brilliant. It’s important now that we keep moving in the right direction.”
