In January, Matt O’Riley arrived at Celtic Park along with our Japanese trio having garnered a stellar reputation down in England as a promising young player and one for the future. During his days at Fulham, Matt saw very little first-team action, which persuaded him to seek pastures new once his contract expired at Craven Cottage.
Although Scott Parker was desperate to keep hold of the young midfielder, O’Riley thought his development would be best served with an apprenticeship in League One with MK Dons. He duly left the London side and signed a deal on far less money than he would have received, had he put that before his footballing aspirations to sit in reserve.
After a storming time at the Dons, O’Riley attracted the interest of various club’s across the border, but it was Ange Postecoglou and Celtic that swooped in with a £1.5 million deal to bring him to Parkhead during the winter transfer window. Having been rebuffed in their attempts to sign Aussie star Riley McGree – who opted for the mediocrity of Middlesbrough – they captured O’Riley for a significantly smaller fee and looked to have dodged a bullet in the process.
Now in an interview with Scottish Sun, O’Riley has spoken out about his first few months in Glasgow as a Celtic player. Speaking to SunSport about his new coaches both at Celtic and Denmark, he said: “I’ve only met Kasper once or twice so I can’t say that much in depth about him. But he seems very approachable. He came up to me and asked me how I was doing and how he was happy to see me training well at this level.
“Sometimes it’s nice to hear those kinds of things. I have a relationship with Ange where we do speak but it’s not frequent. It’s more of a respect and I’m here to do my job kind of thing. But I think they’re very good coaches, just in different ways. When Ange speaks you listen. Everybody does, regardless of whoever you are.
“Regardless of how old or young you are, when he says something you stop what you’re doing. That’s what he’s really good at. He just commands respect from everyone. He does have a joke around at times and it’s nice to see him when he does bring that side out. It just shows sometimes we can just breathe! As much as I say Ange doesn’t speak to people that much, he’s sort of got a culture at Celtic where us as players and the rest of the staff have it very easy to speak to each other.
“He’s installed that structure within so he overviews the whole thing and makes sure it’s ticking as it should. If it doesn’t do that then he’s always very quick to rectify it, which is what makes him very good. It separates us from quite a few others because he’s very switched on. We always say as players depending on the game or the situation or the time, he always seems to say the things you want to hear.”
Matt also admits Ange’s ability to keep his emotions in check is a crucial factor to how this team performs his instructions on the field of play. He said: “He says it at the right time and doesn’t get very emotional which, nowadays, is a very important factor. If you get very emotional all your messages can get completely lost in translation and players on the pitch might feel a bit anxious.
“He always comes from a very level-headed perspective and I think that’s really important. So as a player when you’re out there you know exactly what you need to do, where you need to go and you also know he’s always going to have your back. That’s something I like very much. The people he’s set up around the club made it easy for me to settle.”
The midfielder also revealed he felt instantly at home in his current milieu, and it took him just THREE days to settle in. He continued: “I genuinely felt at home within three days. Genuinely. The first day you’re a bit nervous but I’d already started my first game after something like two days. That helps, when you’re thrown into the event and if you do well you earn respect from other people. That’s kind of what happened and from then on it’s been very easy to settle and make friends.
“I’ve already genuinely got a few of my best mates at the club, which is pretty cool. I hang around with Carl, Anthony Ralston, Josip. But then again I honestly probably hang out with half the team, which shows enough about our culture. There are guys like Liel Abada and everyone is very approachable. Even if we have a rare night out together as a team, everyone is there and you can speak to anyone, which I think is quite unique in this day and age. There’s usually quite a lot of cliques but at Celtic I feel like I could be sat at a dinner table with any of them and have a good time, which is cool.”
O’Riley reckons that’s what makes for such great chemistry on the pitch, having that off-field camaraderie with each other. He places one man at the heart of this special bond who connects the group together. Along with his captain, he reserved special praise for the elder statesman of the squad – Joe Hart – as a fountain of wisdom. He added: “I think that translates onto the pitch as well. You see how we gel so nicely. Throughout most games, that’s the way we are off the pitch as well. We’re very open and relaxed. Even people like Callum McGregor, who from the outside might have this persona of being the captain and leader, is a very nice guy.
“Joe is someone I can’t speak highly enough about. He’s the most level-headed guy I’ve met. He’s achieved the craziest things, he’s got this huge pedigree, he’s 34 but regardless of your age he’ll speak to you like your just a human being. I’ve had numerous chats with him which have not been football-related but down-to-earth, deep talks and I think it’s cool you can do that with someone like Joe. Everyone is in it together which is really important for success.”
Paul Gillespie
It’s Father’s Day this Sunday so why not order a copy of David Potter’s new book, Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style and we’ll get it posted straight away. You can order from Celtic Star Books – using the link below – or alternatively you can pick up a copy from any of the official Celtic Stores…
Alec McNair – Celtic’s Icicle by David Potter and both Invincible and Harry Hood Twice as Good by Matt Corr are also available from Celtic Star Books. Both of Matt’s book currently come with a free t-shirt featuring Tom Rogic or Harry Hood as part of our Father’s Day promotion.
