POSTECOGLOU REVEALS CARTER-VICKERS ‘SNAG’
ANGE POSTECOGLOU has revealed Celtic ran out of time in their bid to sign Cameron Carter-Vickers on a permanent contract on deadline day.
The 23-year-old Spurs centre-back arrived on a season-long loan deal with just minutes to spare before the August transfer window closed.
Postecoglou admitted he wants to deal in the England-born US international who has been a rock in his defence since his arrival.
The Greek-Australian gaffer said: “He’s become an important part of our team and that’s why I was so keen to bring him in.
SHOVE OFF…Cameron Carter-Vickers demonstrates his strength in the 3-1 win over Hibs at Easter Road in October where he scored the Hoops’ second goal.
“Even though he’s a young guy, you just have to look at his playing experience. He had three solid years playing in the Championship at good, strong clubs.
“The Championship in England is a really tough competition. You don’t get through that without having some real quality in you. I looked at his track record and I knew we would be getting somebody with more experience than his age would suggest.
“That’s what’s proven to be. The beauty of that is he’s only going to get better and he wants that.
“He works hard every day, looks after himself and wants to be the best footballer he can be. I knew what I was getting and it turned out to be a really good move.”
SIGNING TALKS…Ange Postecoglou aims to deal in Cameron Carter-Vickers on a permanent deal.
Postecoglou, speaking to the Sunday Mail, added: “We were close to not getting him in the window because there were moving parts.
“There were some players we needed to move on at the time. People forget that Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie didn’t leave until late, so there were a helluva lot of moving parts.
“Thankfully for us, we were able to get Cameron over the line at the last minute. It was a bit of a leap of faith for him because he didn’t have a lot of time to think about it, but I’m sure he would say that it has been a great move for him and it’s been a great move for the club.
“Why was it not a permanent deal? Because we didn’t have the time. It was really late in the piece and the logical thing for all parties was a loan, otherwise we wouldn’t have got the deal done.”
THOU SHALT NOT PASS…Cameron Carter-Vickers is in the thick of the action in Celtic’s Premier Sports League Cup Final victory over Hibs at Hampden.
Carter-Vickers is part of the meanest defence in the Premiership which has conceded only 11 goals – and two of the total were lost in the opening day of the campaign on July 31 in the 2-1 loss to Hearts at Tynecastle a month before the player’s arrival.
He made his debut against Ross County at Parkhead on September 11 and marked the occasion by netting a deflected opener as the Hoops went on to win 3-0 with a double from Albian Ajeti.
Carter-Vickers will go into action again today as Celtic bring down the curtain on an eventful 2021- a year that has seen massive changes at the club as well as a switch of managers with Neil Lennon departing in February.
The Postecoglou jigsaw is coming together and Carter-Vickers, a stand-out performer in the 2-1 Premier Sports League Cup Final triumph over Hibs a week ago, will be in for the long haul – if the team boss gets his way.
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