WITH a long-awaited return to the Champions League group stages looming for Celtic in September, Ange Postecoglou will no doubt be keen to strengthen his squad further with more signings this summer.
The Parkhead club made significant progress last season after appointing Postecoglou as their manager and were deserved winners of the Premier Sports Cup and cinch Premiership.
Yet, games against the likes of AC Milan, Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, who they could all be drawn to face in August, will be a significant step up.
The Glasgow giants lost to Midtjylland in Champions League qualifying, failed to reach the knockout rounds of the Europa League after defeats to Bayer Leverkusen and Real Betis and were humbled in the Conference League play-off by Bodo/Glimt in the 2021/22 campaign.
Bringing in a few reinforcements in key positions in the weeks ahead, then, will increase the Scottish champions’ chances of competing with the continent’s elite and progressing to the last 16 for only the fourth time in their history.
But Tom Boyd, the former Celtic captain and defender, believes that Postecoglou can have confidence in the full-backs that he already has at his disposal.
Josip Juranovic, a £2.5m acquisition from Legia Warsaw last August, has shown why he is a regular starter with Russia 2018 finalists Croatia and will be heading to the Qatar 2022 finals in November since arriving in the East End.
However, Boyd was also impressed with how Anthony Ralston, who had made just 20 first team appearances in the previous six seasons and been loaned out to Queen’s Park, St Johnstone and Dundee United, established himself in the 2021/22 campaign.
The 23-year-old scored five goals in 47 games in all competitions and silenced those who claimed he lacked the quality required to play for his boyhood heroes and felt he should move on to another club.
The Bellshill-born right back capped his breakthrough season when he was called up by Scotland in November and he netted his first international goal in the Nations League win over Armenia at Hampden earlier this month.
Boyd, who was capped 72 times for his country, feels that Greek-Australian coach Postecoglou deserves praise for how Ralston has developed over the last 12 months, but thinks the player himself should be proud of the progress which he made.
Asked for his thoughts on Ralston last season, Celtic ambassador Boyd said: “Absolutely outstanding.
“He is in there on merit in terms of what we are seeing. That is him in competition with Josip Juranovic. It is no mean feat to be able to keep him out at times. I know Juranovic goes to left back on occasion, but he did that at the start. It is that squad game now.
“Anthony has put himself in a position to be considered a first team player with the manager and that is all down to the faith the manager has in Anthony, giving him belief.
“But it is also Anthony’s attitude and what he has done to get to that position. Everybody was writing him off a few years ago. He was out on loan and it wasn’t working. He has come back in and whatever has clicked for him, whether it is more dedication or whatever, he has improved dramatically.
“So much so that he would be in the starting line-up and nobody would bat an eyelid. It is absolutely fantastic for Anthony what he has done. He is maybe an inspiration for other players who maybe fall by the wayside.”
Ralston came on and played alongside his club mate Greg Taylor in Scotland’s 4-1 win over Armenia in Yerevan– a result which boosted the country’s hopes of topping Group B1 and securing a Euro 2024 play-off spot - last Tuesday night.
Boyd watched the match and felt the presence of the two Celtic full-backs on the park underlined the options that Postecoglou now has at his disposal.
“That shows you the depth we have got in our squad,” he said. “That is absolutely fantastic to have. Of course, you want more. You are trying to strengthen every position and that’s where we are. But we have players for positions now.
“Sadly we maybe didn’t always have that in the past . . . like in the days when you relied on a Henrik Larsson because Tommy Boyd was playing at the back!”
All joking aside, Boyd is adamant that Ralston and Taylor are more than capable of making the transition to Europe’s premier club competition next term after seeing them excel for both Celtic and Scotland in 2021/22 campaign.
“Can Greg surprise a few people in the Champions League?” he said. “Well, that will be his aim. He’s now playing international football. I wouldn’t imagine the Champions League is too different to that as you are facing some of the best players in the world there, too.
“Admittedly, some teams might have more than most due to the quality, but as he has progressed and Anthony has progressed, the next level is the Champions League. After playing in the Europa League, this is now the top echelon.
“You want to get there and test yourself there, so I’m sure Greg or Anthony or whoever else is in there will want to get play and be a part of it because there are magnificent nights at Celtic.
“Whoever has been there and or has played in them will back that notion that Celtic Park nights are really special on those occasions.”
