THE ink was barely dry on the transfer forms before Alistair Johnston was pitched into the Celtic team for his debut at Ibrox on January 2 2023.
The Canadian international right-back had just arrived in a £3.75million switch from MLS club CF Montreal and Ange Postecoglou gave the new Bhoy the nod ahead of Josip Juranovic who had been involved in transfer speculation for several weeks.
Johnston settled in right away, cheered when he saw Daizen Maeda fire the Hoops into an early lead, winced as the hosts came back to lead 2-1 through Ryan Kent and the almost inevitable penalty-kick from James Tavernier, was mystified when Rangers weren’t penalised as Connor Goldson used two hands to push away a Carl Starfelt effort and sighed with relief as Kyogo Furuhashi whipped in a deserved late equaliser.
Welcome to the Glasgow derby, AJ!
HAMPDEN HOORAYS…Alistair Johnston, his team-mates and Brendan Rodgers celebrate Celtic’s Premier Sports League Cup triumph over Rangers earlier this month.
Johnston was an immediate hit with his new fans as Juranovic was sold to Union Berlin and hardly anyone noticed the transition on the right-hand side of the team’s defence.
That encounter in Govan almost two years ago was the first of 11 outings for the resolute back-four performer and he has yet to sample defeat with nine wins and two draws in an impressive sequence.
Johnston and Co go into the third derby of the campaign after a 3-0 Premiership rout at Parkhead in September and in the aftermath of the champions’ Premier Sports League Cup Final penalty-kick shoot-out success at Hampden earlier this month.
There were some who were determined to cloud the achievement of Brendan Rodgers’ side – their third domestic piece of silverware in 2024 – and attempted to detract from the accomplishment.
Johnston’s attention has not been diverted from the immediate task on hand and said: “We are not too focused on past results. As soon as you step out there, you feel the energy, the passion, even in the days leading up to it.
“It doesn’t raise it any more – it’s always at the maximum level of motivation. Whatever happened in previous matches doesn’t weigh too heavily on our minds.
“I think this team does one of the best jobs I’ve ever seen of putting a previous result behind them, whether it’s positive or negative, and focusing on the next one.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It would be really easy to get complacent after winning X amount of games on the trot. But every single day the guys show up hungry as ever. That comes down to how the gaffer runs this team.
“We have a squad of close to 30, who are all top players. If you take your foot off the gas, even a little bit, you will have someone nipping at your heels looking to take your spot.
“There’s always that competition and that takes away any complacency, which is important. Everyone is constantly chomping at the bit to get out there. Regardless of previous results, we will be ready for it.”
Glancing at the day he took his bow as a Celt, Johnston, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “Two years ago – it’s gone by in a flash, when you look back at what has changed personally and as a team.
“What an amazing two years it has been. What a great challenge is always is going there to get a result. It’s never an easy place to go.
“We know if we go and play our football, enjoy having the ball like we do, then we can go there and get a result. That is exciting as well.
“It’s one of the biggest matches in world football. It’s one of the reasons you sign here, you want to be playing in these matches.
THE TASTE OF SUCCESS…Alistair Johnston bites on his first Celtic medal, the League Cup honour after the Hoops’ 2-1 win over Rangers in February 2023.
“It feels more than just 90 minutes chasing a ball – a lot, lot more. It’s bigger than that. I was lucky enough to get dropped into one two years ago and every time I get the chance to get out there and represent this club, you feel how important it is to the supporters and how lucky you are to get the chance to do that.”
Reflecting on a highly successful calendar year, Johnston added: “Will it be tough to top it? Yeah, probably. But that is what this club is all about. It’s about setting new benchmarks and surpassing them.
“We are still alive in this new Champions League format and that is something that gives us a lot of excitement going into the first month of 2025.
“Hopefully, we can kick on in the last couple of group stage matches. Again, everything is to play for domestically, with the league and Scottish Cup, which is something we are obviously striving for.
“It really comes down to the DNA of this football club. It’s always about the next one. You don’t really rest on your laurels or the trophies you have won, otherwise you wouldn’t be here – you wouldn’t be a good fit.
“There’s constantly been new blood added and that extra drive from the young players coming in. The ones who do stick around and have been here a long time, they live and breathe lifting trophies.
“It takes a big player to carry that weight and I feel our leadership has that. You look at guys such as Callum McGregor and James Forrest, to play at that level for so long and to still have that drive to want to keep doing it again and again.
“It’s hard for the guys who walk in the door not to feel the same way. When you have that personality and DNA running through the club and the leaders, it sets us up for that hunger and desire to constantly be there.
“It’s like: ‘I want to be the one who has lifted X amount of trophies’.
“You saw it was James there, becoming tied as the most decorated player. That is unbelievable – this is Celtic Football Club we are talking about.
“One of the most storied clubs in the world. And one of the current players has tied that record and, hopefully, we can break it for him.”
And it all kicks off at Ibrox on Thursday.
