When Aaron Mooy was Liel Abada’s age he was plying his trade at St Mirren. When he was as old as Jota or Matt O’Riley are now, he’d returned to Australia in a bid to reignite his career.
That’s why, after watching his young Celtic team-mates on the Champions League stage in midweek, he half-joked about not being as good as them as a youngster. But Ange Postecoglou is having none of that. When Mooy returns to Paisley today, 10 years after leaving the Buddies to sign for Western Sydney Wanderers, he’ll have Premier League, Champions League and World Cup experience behind him. Not bad for someone who says he wasn’t that good at 21.
Postecoglou knew exactly what he was getting when he signed the former Brighton and Huddersfield Town midfielder in the transfer window. He believes Mooy was just as talented as Celtic’s current crop - but just had to go on a different journey to realise his potential.
And at 31, he’s now using his experience to help nurture the likes of Abada and O’Riley at Parkhead. Postecoglou has used Mooy sparingly so far this season but with every appearance, his influence feels greater.
The manager is convinced that over the campaign - particularly after this international break - the Aussie will have a crucial part to play in any success Celtic have. Ahead of the clash with St Mirren this afternoon, Postecoglou responded to Mooy’s comments after the 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek.
He said: “Aaron is being more than a little bit modest there. To be fair to him, and this isn’t unusual for Australian footballers, he had to overcome hurdles as a young player.
“He came across to the UK at a young age and it was hard for him to break through. He had to go back to Australia to relaunch his career and that is not easy.
“When you go back there, it can be very easy to fall into a comfort zone. He had to show real determination not to see it as a backwards step and see it as a way to get back to Europe.
“He got himself to the Premier League and he has been to a World Cup. Everyone has a different journey. I think Aaron was as talented as some of the guys we have here but he had very different challenges to overcome.
“The footballer and the person he is today is because he showed that resilience. He had to go through those tough times. You get some players who break through when they are young and have a meteoric rise.
“But they don’t understand how to handle challenges and setbacks when they inevitably come. He had those lessons early on and used them to get the maximum out of his career.
“We have made a lot of progress as a team over the last 13 or 14 months but we still have a very young group of players. These guys all have a helluva lot of improvement and development ahead of them.
“My job is to make sure that we keep pushing them to be the best they can be. And having someone with experience like Aaron in there helps with that.
“He came in late, had missed pre-season and hadn’t played for quite a while. We’ve taken our time to get him in the team so he can make a contribution.
“He's getting stronger and after the international break we have something like 11 games in 30-odd days. He will be an important part of that period. His fitness levels are getting to the point where we will be comfortable with him starting games and finishing them strongly.”
While Mooy is gradually getting himself into Postecoglou’s side, Scotland full-back Greg Taylor is a permanent fixture. This week, he’s expected to replace Liverpool star Andy Robertson for the national team against Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland in the Nations League.
Given his current form for Celtic, both domestically and in the Champions League, that won’t faze the 24-year-old. Postecoglou signed £3 million defender Alexandro Bernabei in the summer to fight Taylor for his jersey.
But the Argentine can’t get a look in right now. The Celtic boss is delighted with the Scot and says if he continues to improve, he’ll be at the same level as Robertson and Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney.
He said: “Greg is one of the players who was here when I first came in and from the first day he has embraced what we are trying to do. He wanted to improve himself as a footballer in every aspect.
“He caught on pretty early that there was more in his game and he’s really starting to see the fruits of that. He is only 24 and I keep saying to a lot of our guys, you can either settle for whatever box people put you in or whatever label they give you - or you can just keep developing and reach levels that people maybe thought you couldn’t.
“That is the challenge for everyone, rather than sitting and getting comfortable. Greg could easily have settled into life as a regular at this club but I think he is more ambitious than that.
“He wants more and he feels very strongly about representing Scotland. He knows that he has some world class players competing in that position - but he is determined to get to that level.
“I think you have seen that his performances have improved and he has done well at Champions League level. But the key is to keep pushing. If he keeps that mindset then he can get to whatever level he wants.
“In life we can settle for what we’ve got and allow other people to shape opinions about us. Or we can do something about it ourselves and change people’s opinions.
“Greg has been determined to embrace everything we are doing here in a football and a cultural sense. Even though he is 24, he is one of the loudest in our environment.
“He wants to be the best he can be and when you do that I think you can change people’s perceptions.”
Taylor won’t be at the World Cup in Qatar later this year but Mooy could be, along with a host of other Celtic stars. Postecoglou admits it will be bizarre losing players to a major tournament halfway through a domestic season.
But he’s disappointed that Scotland aren’t there and hopes his players who make it return better for the experience. Ahead of the international break, he said: “For all of us it is going to be unusual.
“Every club manager will tell you the same – we just don’t know how it will play out. Having been to one myself as a coach, I know that it is a pretty intense environment.
“You are measuring yourself against the very best in the world and there are really high stakes in every game. Usually afterwards you need a little bit of a break to come down from that sort of experience.
“So we have to make sure our planning around that is decent. It’s a great regret that Scotland didn’t qualify but in some ways it saves us a headache because there are few more that might have been away.
“The flip side is that I know just how amazing an experience it is for players. They usually come out of it feeling really good about themselves and ready to use the experience to be a better player.”
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