As Celtic’s longest serving player James Forrest has done the rounds of far-flung ‘European’ destinations for the Champions League qualifiers over the last decade. He’s been to the likes of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan with Celtic, always as Scottish Champions, but that was never enough for UEFA to reckon winning the Scottish Premiership earned an automatic spot in the group stages.
That changed this year and after losing toe bounce-match season that no-one is ever going to remember because no-one actually witnessed the action, normal service was resumed with Celtic winning a tenth title in eleven season with a decade long 100% record when the supporters were allowed into stadiums.
That latest title came with the significant prize of automatic entry to the Champions League Group stages so is in fact the most valuable of the ten winners medals that James Forrest has won.
And now he’s certainly better placed than anyone else to speak about the advantage of not having to endure early season qualifiers in these far flung reaches of European football.
“It’s class. Those four qualifiers as well and going to different places…I think it’s good for the club and for Scottish football as well that everybody can look forward to the draw and going straight into the groups,” Forrest told Scott Burns at Daily Record. “We’ve been everywhere, and the game on Wednesday (against SC Wiener Viktoria) would probably have been a qualifier.
“So, it’s good for everyone that we get together over pre-season and the first game will be the first league game. We’ve not had that in a while. We’ll look forward to the draw when it comes.
“The Champions League nights are class, and it’s amazing even when we go away from home as well. We’re all looking forward to it when it comes along.
“It’s been five years, it feels as though we’ve not been there for a wee while, but once that first game comes around it will just feel that Celtic are meant to be in the Champions League with those big nights.
“A lot of the boys probably haven’t played in the Champions League, so everyone will be buzzing.”
Domestically experience tells Forrest that there will be a challenge for theRangers to overcome after Celtic chased them down last season, eventually getting out noses in front with that 3-0 mauling on 2 February and never losing the lead thereafter until the title that theRangers reckoned they ere strong favourites for, was won…by Celtic.
“It was the same when they won the league the year before. We had a big turnaround in players with the amount that left and then new players coming in.
“I think over the last two seasons Celtic and (the)Rangers have been really close, so I think this year it’s going to be the same. We’re going to have to kick on and do more than we did last year.
You’ve got to go into the season that way. You can’t really focus on anyone else, you just have to keep improving yourself.”
This is pre-season Number 13 for Forrest who celebrated his 31st birthday in Austria and with a new long-term contract signed at the end of last season which will effectively make him a one club player – a rare breed these days – yet Jamesy is delighted about that.
“I was delighted to sign my deal, and I think it was good for me and the club, but I don’t want to just say that I’ll stay here for the sake of staying here.
“I want to win more things and play as much as I can, and if that means staying here for the rest of my career, then I’d be happy with that. It’s just the same as every year, I’ve had a lot of good seasons before and you just have to try to come back stronger after having injuries and I’ve been doing that.
“I’ve started well this pre-season and I want to continue to do that, and hopefully I’ll take that into the season as well. You speak to older boys and that and I turned 31 on Thursday, but I love being here and I wouldn’t want to be here if I just wanted to plod along.
“I want to keep trying to help the team, keep trying to win stuff and play as much as I can. I’m looking forward to the season just as I did with last season as well.”
Perhaps in all his time at the club Forrest hasn’t faced the competition for places in the team in those winger roles, on either side of the pitch. There’s Jota, Abada. Maeda and even Mikey Johnston all looking for match action this season.
“The manager hasn’t said that, but I know myself. We even said as soon as we got here, for all of the boys that did so well last year, it starts afresh and everything kind of gets forgotten about.
“I think that’s the best way to look at it, you can’t look back on what you have done before, you need to keep going on and trying to improve. It doesn’t matter what age you are, that goes for everyone.
“I remember over different spells throughout my Celtic career, every spell when we’ve done really well, the squad has been really good and really strong. You look at the amount of international boys and the young boys coming through as well, we’ve got a big squad over here and the standard is really good in training. That’s good for the players and it’s obviously good for the manager as well.”
