Greg Taylor insists the Celtic squad are lucky to be part of a trophy grabbing machine – but fortune favours the brave when it comes to hoovering up silverware.
The Hoops have bagged three of the last four prizes up for grabs in Scotland after Sunday’s Viaplay Cup success. It’s been a relentless run for the Parkhead men with 22 trophies in the last 11 years and Taylor warned rivals there are no signs of Celts taking glory for granted.
Much has been made of Rangers boy Mick Beale’s ‘Lucky Man’ chat regarding Ange Postecoglou and the full back reckons it’s the players who are fortunate. But when it comes to getting the job done they make their own luck. Taylor said: “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it, to be honest. It’s such a difficult thing to do. People don’t realise that. We’re fortunate that we’re at a club where you get the chance most years to compete.
“But it’s getting that over the line, we are in a very fortunate position. Everyone in that changing room realises that. Just winning a trophy for this club is the best feeling. Callum made a good point on the pitch – you don’t get tired of it because it’s the best feeling in the world.
“Winning trophies, it’s what the club demands. The support on Sunday, I thought they were outstanding. They deserved it.”
The Celtic side deserved it too. They did a number on their fierce foes. Postecoglou’s men produced a methodical dismantling of the Light Blues and – despite a second half rally – by the final whistle the result could have been more emphatic.
Celtic used a low key opening 20 minutes to size up their opponents. To earn more than 70 percent possession in the first quarter of an Old Firm game is almost unheard of. But the Hoops were not hogging the ball for the sake of it. They were pressing and probing and working out weaknesses.
And they found them. Callum McGregor ran the show. Reo Hatate took the ball in tight areas and created the space for Aaron Mooy, Daizen Maeda dragged James Tavernier out of position and for the opening goal it worked a treat as it was Taylor who made the most of the space to tee up Kyogo.
The brilliantly worked second didn’t quite seal it as Gers made a last stand. But in the final 10 minutes it was Celtic who were picking off their opponents and Beale’s men were fortunate the scoreline didn’t get messy.
It must have been all the sweeter after Fashion Sakala’s pre-match claim Rangers were the better side but Taylor said: “I don’t think we are about making points to other teams. Rangers are a good opponent. It was a difficult game.
“We just focus on ourselves and set our own benchmarks in terms of a level of performance. Hopefully we can continue to do that as the rest of the season goes on.
“I felt we deserved to win it. In the first half we had good control of the match. We were the dominant team. When we got the second goal, after that we maybe got a wee bit slack in our play and Rangers obviously came back into the game.
“At 2-1 in a Cup Final, it’s inevitable that you feel as if you are holding on a little bit. But we did that and we could have scored a few more.
‘We stood up to the challenge in that spell. They play a lot of direct balls, they fight for everything and they have got strong and quick players at the top end. So we knew it wouldn’t be easy. There are always going to be points in the game against a good opponent where they have spells but we’re just glad that we played our football and came out of it with the trophy.”
The Celtic party continued at Parkhead on Sunday night and Postecoglou gave his men the Monday off to recover. But it was back to it on Tuesday and Taylor insisted no one at the club will be putting the feet up just yet.
The nine point advantage in the league has to be maintained and the Scottish Cup is on the horizon. Taylor said: “Complacency is the one thing you can’t label this group of players of being.
“We treat every game the same. We have always got the same belief that we can play our football. Equally we have got the same respect for all our opponents.
“That won’t be any different come Sunday. We’ll enjoy this because winning trophies isn’t easy so we deserve to enjoy this success. The momentum we have is massive. We just focus on each game as it comes. We know in cup finals and cup games you don’t get a second crack at it, to be honest.
“So we knew we had to be at it. But equally I think our form has been pretty consistent since the World Cup break. We are getting stronger as we go on. We’re learning the manager’s philosophy better and better and hopefully that can continue.
“We’ve brought in players in January who are contributing massively. Hopefully that can continue.”
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