Every trophy is special – Alastair Johnston sees no let-up at Celtic
Alistair Johnston discovered that every triumph was special at Celtic when seeing the joy on serial winner Callum McGregor’s face as the captain lifted the first two trophies of the season.
Johnston is one match away from completing a clean sweep of major honours in Scotland five months after joining Celtic from Montreal.
McGregor is going for his 20th winners’ medal on Saturday when Celtic face Inverness in the Scottish Cup final and Johnston expects it would mean just as much for his skipper to again meet the demands and expectations of fans.
The 24-year-old said: “I know the extraordinary has become ordinary a little bit at this club with how many trophies they have lifted over the past decade. But still, for guys like myself, this would be my third-ever trophy in my entire career.
“And I know Cal is probably on 40 or whatever it is but even for him, when you see how much excitement and joy it brings to him and guys like that – James Forrest, I mean he might be on 50 for all I know – you can really tell how much it means.
“When you see that from the older guys who have been there and done that, especially as a new guy, you are like ‘okay, yeah, this is really big’. I am really excited and I would love to be a part of it.
“When you see over the past decade, not only the trophies but the trebles that have been won, you almost take it for granted a little bit that ‘oh, Celtic won another one, it’s not that big of a deal’.
“But now, being here and truly understanding and seeing the work that goes on behind the scenes and just the amount of effort that each guy puts in, it really rings true to me. It’s like ‘wow, each one of these is special’.
“Just because some guys have won a lot of them, it doesn’t make that next one any less special.
“I am just really excited to be in a position where I could potentially be walking out of here after six months with a treble. That is everything and more I could have asked for, but when I came in those were the expectations, that was what was put on me, it’s trophies or nothing.
“I am just really happy we are delivering for our fans so far but it will be a big match this weekend, it won’t be easy.”
Johnston’s appetite has been further whetted by seeing clips of previous Hampden success, including the penalty shoot-out that won Celtic the Scottish Cup against Hearts in 2020 to clinch the quadruple treble.
The Canada international said: “It gave you that hunger as one of the new players: ‘I want to be part of that, I want to leave my mark on this club as well’.
“As you get closer to these finals, some of those clips come up and it really puts things in perspective. You can just see the joy it brings to the fans and players. That’s something you want to be part of as a footballer.”
At one stage Johnston feared he would not be part of it after suffering a leg injury in a tackle on Rangers full-back Borna Barisic in the semi-final, but he fought back to fitness to play in the final match of the league season against Aberdeen last weekend.
“When I made the tackle, I thought it could be an issue,” he said. “Just because when I stood up and realised I couldn’t put any real weight on it.
“But the scans were better than expected and I have done a lot with the medical team, they have been unbelievable. They have been in every day pretty much with me doing the long hours because I made it really clear I wanted to be back, not only for the cup final, but I wanted to be back to be in contention for selection for the Aberdeen match because I wanted to be out on that pitch.
“You could probably see the joy it brought me being out there, I was loving life. Even though I got a bit tight, it was just precautionary to get me off.
“Now all the focus is on the cup final. I feel good enough to be able to go. I don’t think anyone is perfect at this point of the season.
“They are long years, a lot of matches, a lot of minutes on everyone’s bodies. But it’s a cup final, an opportunity to lift a trophy, and you can get through some pretty serious pain for that.”
Bruno Fernandes: Man United building something special under Erik ten Hag
Bruno Fernandes believes Manchester United are building something special under Erik ten Hag, who the skipper feels a debt of gratitude to having stood by him amid intense criticism following the Liverpool debacle.
The meticulous Dutchman has helped drag the Old Trafford giants up from a low ebb, leading them back into the Champions League having won the Carabao Cup in his first season at the helm.
Ten Hag now has the chance to end a positive campaign by completing a domestic cup double with a statement victory at Wembley, where United take on treble-chasing Manchester City on Saturday.
The first all-Manchester FA Cup final promises to be a special occasion and one that Fernandes, set to skipper the side, believes can provide the catalyst for further success.
“It is important for us, even to build,” the Portugal international told the PA news agency. “We are now building something we see can be special in the future.
“Obviously I think if we win the FA Cup, it will give a little bit more belief that we can go into the next season and aim for bigger targets.”
Fernandes, who signed a new deal at United towards the end of last season, said: “I want to win trophies at the club.
“I spoke with the club before I signed that contract and said ‘I want to be successful with the club, but I need to make sure the club is going to be the right things and do things in a successful way’.
“I think those steps are being done. We still need some things and I think we will have that. Not only with transfers but also in the dressing room with us stepping up more in moments that we needed it this season, but we didn’t.
“Next season we will have learned so we need to do it better.”
Fernandes’ drive and fiercely ambitious nature matches that of Ten Hag, who he credits for overseeing a “big improvement on the team mentality wise and quality wise”.
“I said since the beginning of the season he demands a lot,” the playmaker said. “He wants to win. He wants to be in the position to win everything.
View this post on Instagram“He doesn’t hide that, he shows that, he passes the message through the players, so it makes you be always aware that you have to be at the best level as possible to play with him, to be part of the club.“He has made high demands for everyone to understand that we are in a big club and to be here we have to deserve to be here, we have to show that we deserve to be here.
“And I think that he has been changing the mentality of everyone to not be relaxed, not be thinking that your place is guaranteed here.”
Ten Hag has overseen a largely positive campaign, but there have been some ugly bumps in the road – no more so than March’s club record-equalling 7-0 defeat at arch-rivals Liverpool.
That shellacking saw skipper Fernandes face scathing criticism from the likes of United greats Roy Keane and Gary Neville – a stinging assessment that led to a staunch defence by his manager.
“I’m aware that he’s really happy with the way I train, the way I play, the way I show my emotions, the way I show my passion for the game,” the Portuguese said of Ten Hag.
“He knows I care, that’s why probably sometimes it makes you do some things that you should not do.
“But he knows that I will never do nothing to make the team look bad, my team-mates look bad, or making something that is not good for the team.
“He knows that, so that’s why it protects me. That’s why he did that in that interview and many other times.
“Whenever he thinks that he has to say something that he didn’t like to me, he has called me two or three times in his office and he said ‘look, we have to change this, we have to change this, I think you could do it in a different way’.
“We had many conversations this season. He always called the players to talk with them, he has a lot of individual meetings with the players.
“I think that’s good because he shows you the respect, he shows you the protection. But always with the demands behind that because obviously when you protect someone you want him to give you some back, so he can have his reasons to protect you.”
View this post on InstagramCaptaining United to their first domestic cup double will certainly help repay Ten Hag’s backing and would mean a huge amount to the fans.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1999 heroes are the only team to have won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same campaign, adding extra incentive – if any was needed – to Saturday’s encounter under the arch.
“We are aware of this,” Fernandes said. “We know this. We know the story of our club and that the fans don’t want City to do that.
“But for ourselves it is about lifting a trophy. The importance of this for us is winning another trophy, making sure we end the season in the best way possible.
“We know if we win the trophy, the consequence of that is Man City cannot do the treble anymore.
“But from the players’ side, it is just about winning the game because we want to win a trophy for ourselves, the club, the fans. That is it.”
Premier League ‘appalled’ by abuse of referee Anthony Taylor at airport
The Premier League has joined refereeing body PGMOL in condemning abuse directed at Anthony Taylor after video footage emerged of him being accosted by angry fans at Budapest Airport.
Taylor and his family can be seen trying to evade a mob, who were shouting at him as he travelled home after refereeing Wednesday night’s Europa League final between Roma and Sevilla in the Hungarian capital.
A Premier League spokesperson said it was “shocked and appalled by the abuse suffered by Taylor, whilst PGMOL described the incident as “unjustified and abhorrent”.
The Premier League official was criticised for his performance in the final by Roma boss Jose Mourinho during his post-match press conference after the Italian side lost on penalties to Sevilla.
And in video footage which later emerged on social media, the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager is seen gesticulating at Taylor and officials in the stadium car park and heard saying “disgrace”.
In the incident at the airport, clips on Twitter show a chair and drinks being thrown in the direction of Taylor and his group as they make their way through a gathering of Roma fans.
A Premier League spokesperson said: “We are shocked and appalled by the unacceptable abuse directed at Anthony Taylor and his family as they travelled back from the UEFA Europa League Final.
“No one should have to suffer the inexcusable behaviour they had to endure yesterday.
“Anthony is one of our most experienced and accomplished match officials and we fully support him and his family.”
The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) said in a statement on Thursday evening: “PGMOL is aware of videos circulating on social media showing Anthony Taylor and his family being harassed and abused at Budapest Airport.
“We are appalled at the unjustified and abhorrent abuse directed at Anthony and his family as he tries to make his way home from refereeing the UEFA Europa League final.
“We will continue to provide our full support to Anthony and his family.”
UEFA is awaiting Taylor’s reports before deciding whether to take action against Mourinho for his rant.
Taylor booked Mourinho during the game, which finished 1-1 after extra time before Sevilla sealed their seventh Europa League triumph by winning 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out.
Tempers simmered on and off the pitch in a disappointing final, with 13 players shown yellow cards, seven of them to Roma players, while fourth official Michael Oliver had his work cut out to keep control of both dug-outs.
The game was littered with delays, with a total of 25 minutes’ stoppage time added to the 120 minutes of playing time.
West Ham boss David Moyes condemned the treatment of Taylor as he prepares his side for Wednesday’s Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina in Prague.
“I didn’t see the game so I can’t comment on the game itself or the officiating,” Moyes said.
“All referees have a really difficult job and shouldn’t be put through any difficult situations, which I heard about this morning. That’s not correct.”
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