BONEY M might not have made the usual pre-match playlist at Celtic Park in recent months – but you can guarantee it will be blaring over the sound system for the rest of the season.
The fact it was the only tune audible emanating from the Celtic squad bus journey home from a 4-0 triumph over Hibernian is testament to the impact the 70s hit Daddy Cool – altered to salute Aaron Mooy – has had after the Australian bagged his first goals for the club.
A raucous Celtic away support belted out ‘Aaron, Aaron Mooy’ from the away end at Easter Road as the World Cup hero enjoyed a landmark performance in the capital.
“All the boys are on the bus singing it now,” said beaming Mooy when quizzed on his new Parkhead anthem. “Harry Kewell mentioned it to me and I didn’t understand, now I do!
“The ball fell for me at the first one and I just hit it and tried to keep it down. It’s a great feeling to score my first goals for Celtic.
“I have had chances in previous games and they haven’t come off for me. So yeah, when one goes in it’s an amazing feeling.”
Mooy, 32, was perhaps viewed as an underwhelming signing by some supporters in the summer. But his World Cup performances certainly captured attention of the world media.
Now, after a brace against Hibs, Mooy appears to have truly arrived at Celtic and forced his way into contention to start against Rangers at Ibrox next week.
He said: “It’s always nice when the supporters get behind you, that’s what you want.
“I just try and improve, work hard and do my best. That’s all I can do, hopefully they like what they see, it’s not really in my control, I try my best.
“It’s (the move to Celtic) been more (than expected), probably, the intensity of it all was a bit of a shock at the start. Yeah, I’m enjoying it, it’s an amazing club.
“It was a shock because it’s a big, big club. There’s 60,000 people every home game, demanding a win. It’s a different sort of pressure, but I’m enjoying it, hopefully it makes me a better player.”
But Mooy refused to comment on his selection chances ahead of the derby clash in the New Year, stating: “I’m not thinking about it yet, I’m just trying to enjoy this. I’ll start thinking about my next game tomorrow and get my recovery in.
“I was here for the last one so I saw what it was like, it’s a special game and I am looking forward to it.”
For Ange Postecoglou there have never been any doubts about Mooy’s role at Celtic – it was just about getting him up to speed.
The Celtic boss is well acquainted with the midfielder having worked with him during his time as the Australia manager.
Postecoglou was thrilled to see Mooy finally rewarded with goals and earn the adulation of supporters who made the journey to Edinburgh in midweek but insists he was always certain the former Brighton player’s quality would shine through.
“It’s one of those things where he’s scored a couple of goals as well, which obviously helps,” said the Celtic manager.
“With Aaron, again, it was just about getting him fit. It’s hard for people to sort of conceptualise, but he had played probably two games of football in six months before we signed him.
“So, I knew that when we signed him it was going to take a little bit of time to get to the fitness levels we need him to be and he needs to be, but at the same time, I knew that when it happened he’s got such a good engine. His ability to run, his quality would eventually shine through.”
Mooy is just one of a number of Celtic players to appear to have benefitted from their World Cup experience. Daizen Maeda, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Josip Juranovic all featured for their respective nations at the Qatar tournament – as well as January arrival Alistair Johnston.
The unconventional break for the World Cup could have threatened to halt Celtic momentum in the season, but instead has only helped with conditioning and inner belief according to Postecoglou.
He added: “We’ve had a positive World Cup, the guys who went away have come back with some real belief through the positive experiences they had. Daizen, Aaron, Cameron, Jura we’ve yet to see, but I’m sure we’ll get the benefits of that. Alistair Johnston too.
“I think that has helped us, not just with the players’ own conditioning, but also in their belief in themselves.
“It was great for Aaron, he’s been a bit unlucky, he’s been knocking on the door at getting a couple of goal and it was great to see him do it today.”
