“If you’re not at the races, it can get ugly,” Alistair Johnston

The Celtic Star

·3 January 2025

“If you’re not at the races, it can get ugly,” Alistair Johnston

Celtic right-back Alistair Johnston spoke to the media at Ibrox yesterday after the Hoops suffered a 3-0 defeat to theRangers who managed to cut Celtic’s lead at the top of the table to 11 points…

Alistair Johnston and Scott Bain of Celtic arrive at the stadium prior to the SPL Premier League match between Rangers FC and Celtic FC at Ibrox Stadium on January 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Johnston answered all the questions well, giving an insight into the players’ thoughts in the dressing room and discussing the assault on Arne Engels that was millimetres away from being a serious eye injury. Here’s what happened at AJ’s media conference…

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Scottish Premiership – theRangers vs Celtic – Ibrox – Thursday 2nd January 2025. Nedim Bajrami of Rangers vies with Alistair Johnston of Celtic. Photo IMAGO.

Q: Given the performances in the last few months, where did that one come from today?

Alistair Johnston: “We didn’t start very well. They got an early goal. I think that we kind of struggled a little bit just to get out of our own way in a couple of instances, just completing simple passes and breaking through their press. But I’ll credit them. They came out and they played a really good match and we weren’t at the races. A match like this, a fixture like this that has the quality and the emotion behind it, it can go one way pretty quickly. We obviously got caught on the wrong end of it.”

Q: What would you say to the fans, Alistair, who have been watching that on television furious?

Alistair Johnston: “We were just miles from our standard, unfortunately, and that comes down to us. And that’s the frustrating thing is that, you know, we had 90 minutes to recover it and we couldn’t find a way just to do the simple things, you know, just in terms of the physicality of winning duels and just being about it. I didn’t think that we were at the races at all. And that’s the most frustrating part of it. It’s one of the matches that you really don’t want that to happen in. That comes down to us as a group, not putting in that effort right from the get-go. That’s the unfortunate part. But at the same time is now, it’s a busy, busy period. We’ve got to try and put this behind us and get ready for Sunday because the matches come thick and fast.”

Q: Is it too easy to chuck a word around like complacency?

Alistair Johnston: “Yeah, I don’t think complacency is the word. It’s going to happen in football. They’re a good team. Again, we weren’t at the race from the get-go and they punished us. And unfortunately, we just couldn’t find a way to really get a grips of the game. That comes down to us more than anything. I wouldn’t say it’s complacency. You can see the passion in the guys’ eyes. But yeah, it wasn’t our day. And we’ve got to take our medicine and understand that as much as we want to be perfect every day, we weren’t today. Now we’ve got to kick on. This could be a massive thing that we can look at and now bounce back from and use as motivation to remind ourselves that there’s still a long way to go here.”

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Q: It’s the first domestic defeat since March. What was it like in the dressing room after it? It’s not something you’re used to, I guess?

Alistair Johnston: “Yeah, it’s not something we’re used to. And that’s a good sign, obviously. But again, it’s a great reminder that it’s football. It’s not played on paper. It’s played on that pitch. If you don’t show up, any team can beat you. Especially in a match like that, where there’s that much added. If you’re not at the races, it can get ugly. So that’s something that we’re just going to have to take on the chin and move on from. But yeah, it was obviously a pretty frustrated group. At the same time, we realised we had 90 minutes to go out there and change. Obviously, it started poorly for us. And we still had plenty of football left to be played there. But we could have turned that around, and we didn’t find a way to do it. So that’s on us. And we’ve got to learn from that and kick on from here.”

Q: Your lead in the league is still sizeable. I take it nobody’s thinking along those lines. You can’t afford to think along those lines?

Alistair Johnston: “It’s not something that we’ve really been thinking about even going into this match. We’re just taking it day by day, match by match. That’s one that, yeah, we’re probably still up in the table. But we know that more than the table and anything else is that it comes down to performances for us, and that wasn’t near our level. When we play our level, the other things take care of themselves. So, again, we’re just going to get back to playing the football how we expect to play because at the end of the day, that wasn’t anywhere near the level that we set out that this Celtic group can play at. I can imagine our supporters are very disappointed with that. So now it’s up to us to have an instant rebound here and really show that we’re not going to let this dwell on us. That’s one of the benefits of this crazy period, having this many matches in January, is that it’s going to be a match after a match here. So it’s time to get back on it.”

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Q: Is that the silver lining, that you do leave still 11 points clear? It could have been better, but there’s not real damage inflicted in terms of the table.

Alistair Johnston: “Again, these matches, it’s more than just about points and more than just the table. Yeah, it’s a tough one. But at the same time is that we’re grown men. We’re going to take it on the chin. We weren’t good enough. They were the better team. The better team won today. All right, on to the next one. Yeah, the league table is what it is. It’s going to come down to performances for us. And we know that if we play our level, we’re much better than the team that we showed out there today. But at the same time is that you are who you are. What we just showed today is something that we’ve got to own up to. It wasn’t good enough. But yeah, luckily with exactly how this calendar is, this football calendar, is that there’s going to be plenty of opportunities in the very near future to right our wrongs there.”

Q: Were you aware of Arne Engels getting hit by something towards the end of the game?

Alistair Johnston: “I saw that he got hit just above the eye there. It’s an unfortunate situation. We’re just lucky that it didn’t hit him right in the eye. Yeah, no other comment right now from that.”

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Q: As a player generally, do you feel safe in Scottish football in these environments? Do you think it’s safe for you to go about your work?

Alistair Johnston: “Yeah, I’ve played in some other places in Central America where they’re throwing more than just coins at you. You feel pretty safe. It’s unfortunate. Ideally, you don’t want anything being thrown on the pitch. It’s one thing, you know, the words and the chants, whatever. You can get through that. But yeah, you just hope that everyone respects the players on the pitch no matter what team they play for.”

Q: Were you aware of other things coming on the pitch during the game in general?

Alistair Johnston: “No, I was not. But again, it’s something that unfortunately happens. And again, in an ideal world, it’s not happening. That’s the unfortunate case where it hits someone. And look, if that hits them in the eye, it’s probably a pretty serious matter. So I just caution everyone just to be smart. Again, it’s humans out there. It’s someone’s son. So let’s just refrain from chucking things at guys’ heads, ideally.”