Alistair Johnston has had a whirlwind start to life at Celtic. In just over three months he has picked up a cup winner’s medal, played in two Glasgow derbies, and prevailed in the quarter final of another cup competition.

The atmosphere and passion in Glasgow is a world away from what the Canadian would have experienced in Montreal. It’s fair to say he has enjoyed the experience so far and he has opened up on a breathtaking start to life in Paradise, in an interview with the Canadian media.

“These past couple of months have just been insanity,” he said. “I had a week off after the World Cup, went to Glasgow, met the guys and before you know it you are thrown into an Old Firm (sic) match at Ibrox – the home of our most hated rivals. So, that was pretty special, but at the same time it was really cool that my manager pulled me aside the day before and told me that I had just played in the World Cup and I was more than ready for this.”

Johnston put in a decent performance in that tight game at Ibrox. Ahead of the game, he was given extra confidence by the manager, as he elaborated:

“He (Ange Postecoglou) told me it wouldn’t faze me and these are the types of games that you live for – the atmosphere, going through the tunnel, that passion. Even the night before there were fans lined up outside our hotel all night long and cheering us as we drove off in the morning, too. I could just sense that it was something bigger than football. I remember looking around and saying, ‘right, this is Scottish football, here we go’.”

Speaking further about the rivalry and Scottish football as a whole, Johnston commented:

“I have gone from a league like the MLS which is driven by parity – they want all the teams to be as close as possible so everyone thinks they have a chance of winning the MLS Cup. Then you go to a league like this where it’s been dominated by Celtic and to a degree Rangers, as well. And also you share a city with your biggest rivals.”

And it wasn’t just those things which served as a culture shock for the defender. Indeed, the size of Celtic immediately struck him when he began bumping into fans in the streets.

“In Montreal, I could walk through the city, but here, even before I had kicked a ball, I would go downtown and grab a few things and have a cap pulled down low and a sweater on and I still got people coming up to me on the street saying to me: ‘Welcome to the biggest club in the world’.”

Johnston added: “It was then I started to realise: ‘Okay, this is going to be a little bit different than anything I have ever experienced!’”

As for life in Scotland, he seems to be enjoying it and is one of the few foreign footballing imports not to complain about the weather!

“The thing that stands out to me in Scotland is how nice the people are. They are really welcoming, good people, although they are always complaining about the weather. I’m like: ‘Guys it’s 8 degrees, it’s not that bad!’ Whenever someone is complaining about the weather I just tell them what it’s like in Montreal.”