When it comes to knowing the pressures of performing in a Celtic midfield former Celtic player and coach Peter Grant has been there and done it, as he patrolled the middle of the park for Celtic, protecting the likes of Paul McStay and John Collins in the 1980’s and 90’s.
As such Grant, who coached a young Matt O’Riley as he was coming through the ranks at Fulham, is acutely aware of the importance of the midfield engine room to any successful side, and Grant sees real potential and quality options throughout Celtic’s midfield under Ange Postecoglou, including recent signing O’Riley, and as reported in Daily Record , the former Celt is more than impressed with the midfield Ange has built in a short space of time.
“The biggest thing they have is options all over the place and in midfield they have an abundance of it. In midfield there was always a concern about losing Tom Rogic and not having a replacement for him and also him going through 90 minutes. There’s been a big change in that and also you have the addition of O’Riley, who I like,” Grant said.
“I’ve known Matt for a long time and he has the quality. My concern was where he was going to fit into the side – whether he would be a bit higher or lower in there. I spent a long time in England and Scottish football gets knocked but, when people come here, they can soon see the quality in it.
“Last weekend against Ross County, there was Matt with Nir Bitton coming on and also David Turnbull. That’s what a manager wants all of the time. Matt didn’t even start the game and, of course, there is Callum McGregor.
“It’s the rotation in there. You see Hatate, he does a lot of work without the ball sometimes just in the fact he’s dragging players out of position to create space. As a midfielder, that’s fantastic because when you have guys like McGregor, the likes of Jota are intelligent enough to get into the spaces which others create by moving.”
Of course, Grant has a particular interest in the development of Matt O’Riley after all as his former coach at Fulham the ex-Celt more than played a part in the young star’s development. And it’s interesting to note Grant feels O’Riley is the sort of player, given he missed so much football at an important stage of his development, who would benefit from a long run of games in the side rather than the in and out rotational approach many midfielders these days have to contend with.
“It’s not just about football ability at a club like Celtic. The environment and the games he was asked to go into in his first couple of weeks was a big ask. Hearts away and Rangers, matches like that.
“I had no worries about Matt in possession of the ball because I know he can command it but there are some players who go to Celtic with fantastic reputations and just can’t handle playing for them. Matt just seems to have grown with it and the thing I’d like to see is him constantly playing,” Grant added.
“People like rotation these days but I feel Matt is one of those you will get the best out of if he is consistently playing because he missed a bit of football when he was younger. I understand the modern game, the tempo of the way Celtic play and the demands means there might be changes now and again but Matt needs those games in his legs.
“That’s why he had his best season for MK Dons last year, the amount of games he was playing. But there is an abundance of talent in the middle of the pitch for the manager to choose from.”
And it’s not just in midfield where Peter grant is impressed by the strength in depth at Celtic, he also feels up top Celtic have both first choice and back-up options in Kyogo Furuhashi and the on-fire Giorgos Giakoumakis, who can reward the good work of the midfield supporting them by grabbing the goals that make the hard work worthwhile.
“It’s the same in many ways with the front line. Kyogo Furuhashi has been out for a long time but people don’t talk about it as much with Giorgos Giakoumakis doing so well. I’ve watched Giakoumakis play and always thought his movement was excellent. I just didn’t think Celtic put the ball in the box enough. You can see if you do that, he will score.”
Celtic’s strength in depth in midfield was addressed during the January transfer window and it’s paying dividends now. Indeed, with players such as David Turnbull now returning to bolster new signings Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley, as well as Tom Rogic, who alongside Turnbull bore the brunt of regular gametime in the absence of suitable alternatives earlier in the season, Celtic’s midfield if anything looks like it is peaking rather than tiring as the season reaches its conclusion.
An incredible achievement when you consider the paucity of options available to Postecoglou in the first half of the season.
Niall J
Peter was a great worker on the park why can’t sky or other TV companies get him to talk football he’s so knowledgeable in tactics and u van understand him not like kris boyd who stutters his way through utter shite
Peter Grant was a shite player and a shite coach. The minute he came back with Mowbray I knew we were doomed.