ON the morning before he made his debut for Celtic at Ibrox, The Celtic Star wrote about Scott Bain’s journey from a building site to the Celtic first team.
The night before we had tipped our readers off that there would be a BIG surprise in the Celtic team that Brendan Rodgers was keeping under wraps. We understood at that stage that Scott Bain would be making his debut for Celtic that Sunday, but saw no benefit to Celtic in disclosing the news at that stage.
We did give you a big fat hint though!
Scott Bain, on a journey from a building site to the Celtic first team
Bain will be in goals for Celtic today and is there or thereabouts in fulfilling his dream which is to reach the highest level of the game at a top side. He is almost certainly going to be offered a contract so when his loan spell ends in May he will sign on to be a Celtic player for the next few years. He’s only 26 so he has plenty of football still to play whereas Celtic’s other two keepers – Craig Gordon and Dorus de Vries are veterans.
Bain reflected on all of this ahead of the visit of Ross County this afternoon.
“It’s been mad, really. I stay in Edinburgh and it’s not as big as it is in Glasgow, but even through there a lot of people recognise you, stop and speak to you,” Bain revealed.
“Obviously, social media’s a big thing now too. The support I’ve had from the fans has been incredible.
Bain route to Celtic came via a loan move to Hibs from Dundee after he had fallen out with their loathsome manager Neil McCann. Any enemy of McCann’s is bound to be a friend of ours so he got off to a decent start even if he did turn up to sign wearing a Hibs tracksuit!
“When you first come to a club this size from the situation I was in, it’s going to go through your head, but they wanted me to come and that was a big confidence boost.
“It was difficult at Dundee. I’m not going to lie. I thought if I’m still at Dundee then it’s going to be hard to get another club, because you’re forgotten about quickly in football.
“It was always going to be hard to get in to the team with goalkeepers like Dorus and Craig, but once you get your chance you just need to enjoy it and try to take it.”
On his days on the building site, Bain explained.
“I used to work from eight to four, Monday to Friday, but on a Tuesday and Thursday I’d also go to Alloa and train from seven to half nine.
“I’d be back home about half past 10, go to sleep and up the next day for an eight to four shift. I was a labourer for the first year and the second year I helped two boys out with building kits for houses and I really enjoyed it – apart from the winter.
“The worst point was when the forklift driver brought over a pallet of plasterboard sheets and there were 72 sheets on a pallet. I loaded them into the house and I thought I was done for the day. Then the forklift driver told me there were another four pallets-full to be sorted.
“At that point I’m thinking ‘Nah, this isn’t for me.’
“I actually loaded the flat I’m in now with plasterboard sheets. So, I can go around and tell them what I think of the joinery work and get my dad to fix any problems.”
Brendan Rodgers, who has made no secret of his admiration for Bain as a goalkeeper, picked up on manual labour route he has taken to the Celtic first team.
“He’s a very grounded personality – I really can’t imagine ever falling out with him, put it that way,” Brendan said.
“His first game for us at Ibrox was a wonderful demonstration of personality, technique, composure under pressure plus he obviously makes saves.
“His story is fabulous – from working on a building site to this. When you think about it, to turn up and sign for us while wearing another club’s tracksuit – when I saw that I thought, ‘Well, it could have been plasterboards and a trowel…’
“These last couple of games have shown our supporters that, goodness me, he’s a really good keeper. He’s a joy to work with, always smiling and, while he has great humility, he’s also not intimidated in any way. I’ve been delighted for him.”
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