Alistair Johnston just continues to grow in Celtic colours.
In recent years, the likes of Matt O’Riley, Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Nicolas Kuhn, to name a few, have been stealing the headlines on a regular basis.
But the man starting at right-back for Celtic has been going under the radar because he has been consistently fantastic.
That’s why Johnston was rewarded with a new Celtic contract and, along with stalwart James Forrest, he very much deserved it for his performances.
The Canada international is another example of Celtic’s recruitment working wonders because he was another low-key signing from the club.
Johnston arrived from the MLS when Ange Postecoglou was in charge and has since gone from strength to strength.
You might think what Johnston does on the field is impressive, but for Martin O’Neill, what he does off it is even better.
Martin O’Neill says Alistair Johnston ‘puts us all to shame’ for how he speaks
Johnston donned the captain’s armband this season – for Celtic’s win at Motherwell – and you sense many of those opportunities will come again given his character.
During a recent interview with Sky Sports, the 26-year-old spoke about his love for the club, the honour of being captain and winning all trophies possible.
Sky presenter Eilidh Barbour proceeded to tell legendary manager O’Neill ‘off-air’ that Johnston speaks ‘ridiculously well’ and he agreed.
O’Neill stated that he ‘puts us all to shame’ and that he is a ‘really good lad’ from what he has heard about him, as he told Sky Sports Football (23/11/24 at 7:15 pm).
“I had a coach called Steve Guppy, who used to play for me at Celtic and Leicester,” said O’Neill. “He went out to coach in the MLS in Nashville, which was a new franchise, at the time.
“He told me about this lad. He said, ‘not only was he a really nice lad’, but he was athletic and he could get up and down the pitch. And he said ‘he wants to learn’. All of those things have come across in the interview.
“You (Eilidh Barbour) just mentioned off-air that he speaks ridiculously well. He does. Puts us all the shame to tell you the truth. But really a good lad.
Johnston’s stats for Celtic this season
One thing is for sure, Johnston is deserving of his new deal and Anthony Ralston is going to find it difficult to earn regular minutes.
Ralston impressed on Scotland duty recently, but the man ahead of him is just a step above.
Consistent throughout, with WhoScored rating his performances in the Premiership at a pretty impressive 7.53.
