The Celtic captain's positive admission on new teammate

How impressed have you been with the Celtic women's team during your time at the club?

It's been excellent. I was chatting to Elena outside and they are full of confidence about the game. They are 1-0 up from the first leg. It is growing and growing and the level has got better every year. That culminated in them winning the league for the first time last season and they have a huge chance on Wednesday to get to the Champions League group stage. I know they are all delighted and looking forward to the chance of doing that. Here's hoping they can go and do it.

What would it mean to the club generally if they were to go on and do it? Would that add to the feel-good factor that surrounds Celtic at the minute?

That's it. It continues to add to it. The one thing with Celtic is everyone who is here knows the expectation is to be playing elite-level football and being in the elite-level competitions which the Champions League is. It is very difficult to get there and you need to play a number of top teams to get yourself in there. They have done great.  It is all about trying to take that last step. I am sure with the confidence they have started the season with there is no reason why they can't do it. They will know how difficult the game will be. Everybody has faith in them to go and do it. That just continues the feel-good factor that is at the club.

You are a seasoned European captain for Celtic. This would be a first for the women's team in terms of the group stages. What would your advice be as they stand 90 minutes away from achieving that goal?

It is such a huge opportunity and I am sure they will feel that themselves. In these moments you trust your teammates and you trust what the manager is asking you to do. They understand where the game is at and they got a positive result but it is still balanced as well. It is just about trusting each other and going out and delivering in the big moment. I am sure they will. Elena's building a really strong squad on the back of winning the league last season. It is all set up for them to go and do it. Everybody wants them to do it. They just have to trust each other and give their absolute all and see where that takes them at the end of the game.

In terms of captaining a side have you spoken to Kelly (Clark) and what would your key bit of advice be?

I've not had the chance to speak to her in a one-on-one yet. Kelly is a hugely experienced captain of this club and has been here for many years. She will know the right things to say. I am on the other side of that with the men's team and I am always thinking about how I can get the best out of the players. I am sure she will be doing the same. You go to sleep at night and some things pop into your head and you think I can't wait to tell that to the boys the next day. I am sure Kelly does the same. She is a hugely experienced captain and the game is all set up for them to give their all and get through and I am sure they will.

You know how important the crowd can be for these occasions. What would your message to the Celtic fans be for this match?

If you can get there, get there. Back them to the hilt. We have felt what the support does on these big nights. This is no different. It is all about the women's team. Go and support the game. Go and get behind them. Hopefully, we can land both teams in the Champions League. 

You won against Falkirk at the weekend. The manager admitted he made too many changes and disrupted the flow. Is this going to be the biggest challenge for this squad going for the highs of Slovan Bratislava and no disrespect to Falkirk but to keep the drive and momentum going no matter how many changes are made in a squad?

That is always the challenge when you make so many changes. It was important to get the guys into the team to feel the structure and the rhythm of the team. When you make that many changes it can disrupt it a little bit. Moving forward the manager will pick the team and I don't envisage so many changes like that in the weeks to come.  The guys have done amazing and the new guys have come in trying to settle in. The patterns and the repetitions are there. It is all about feeling that and settling in and feeling your way. It is just about the motivation of the players to put in performance after performance together and if we do that hopefully, we will get good results in this next period. 

The manager mentioned the readiness to go into this Champions League with this squad and this is the most he has felt being the Celtic manager. Give us your perspective on this squad as a whole not just in Europe. Where does this sit for you? It seems that every box is more or less ticked and there are so many competitions to play in but how do you assess how good a shape this squad is in compared to previous ones you have played in?

It is a strong squad and the profile of the team is where we want it to be. We have got a good balance of speed, power and physicality and the right tactical stuff that you need as well. It is a balanced group with a lot of young players with good enough experience as well. We have managed to build ourselves a strong squad and I guess time will tell how well we go on and do. It certainly has all the hallmarks of a good team. It is just about the players delivering that on the pitch.

I think it’s fair to say the fans are raving about Arne Engels and his impact so far. Are you surprised by how well he’s started? How good a player is he and how good can he be?

Surprised and not surprised, because I saw him on the first day and thought ‘He’s a player, he can play!’. However, it’s also surprising because you have to still go and deliver when the game kicks off. He’s a young player with good experience for his age. To come into a club this size and take two penalties in his first two games - he’s looked a real powerhouse and good on the ball. I’m not surprised in that aspect but for him to come in and hit the ground running the way he has done is excellent. It’s a real plus for the team as well.

What was your role in mediating the penalty during the Hearts game when Reo wanted to take it? What was your chat?

It was probably not what you guys thought it was, actually! I heard a wee rumour after that but it wasn’t that! Basically, those two were the penalty takers: “Did one fancy it, did the other fancy it? Who fancied it? Alright, you take it.” It was pretty cut and dry, I don’t think there was anything too important for me to step in and deal with. Arne felt good and thankfully he scored as well, so that was all it was!

Eight competitive games, eight wins. What has been the catalyst for the successful start to the season - both domestically and in Europe?

I just think there’s real good building blocks from the work that we did last year. We probably didn’t get the performances for the amount of work that we were putting in, and trying to build what you probably see now, which is a real free-flowing team that understands the rhythm of the game and how to change it. You’ve got really good speed on the sides - teams want to come and press you and you can go direct to them. There was a lot of work done last season that probably went unnoticed, and we probably didn’t get the wards for them. There’s been a real good 12 months of work now, coupled with good recruitment in the summer. The profile of the team looks good and then the confidence of the team when you’ve started the season well - that helps gather momentum. It’s probably a combination of all of that. 

With your opponents on Saturday being managerless, is it more difficult to tactically prepare, because they might approach the game differently? Or is it just the same?

Two sides to that. For us, we just try and focus on ourselves as much as we can, we’ll have a look at St Johnstone, in terms of the way we think that they’ll try and stop us from maybe looking at previous games, but the onus is on us and what we can do and where we can get better. A manager might come in and change the game plan for them. As much as we can, we look at how we can go and dominate the game.

We spoke to the manager about Rodri’s comments about player workload. You retired for Scotland after the summer - did that play a factor in your decision?

A little bit, but not so much. I think for footballers it’s a difficult one, because you work your whole life to get to this level to play as many games as you play - to represent your country playing major tournaments and in the Champions League. Of course, it’s difficult to do, and if it was easy then everyone would be doing it. The players have to take some credit for getting to that level and the sacrifices that they make. Of course, it’s an entertainment business as well where everybody wants to see it on TV every three days, then the players will suffer from that side. It’s a really finely balanced issue, and where I sit on it is that we’ve worked our whole life to get to this point and at some point someone will I’ll tap you on the shoulder and tell you that’s you finished and you won’t have that problem again. For me, I just want to continue to player as long as I can and enjoy my football.

Rodri talked about the players going on strike. Is that something you can envision?

I don’t know, but again, I think that would be pretty difficult to do. I’m not Rodri, so you would need to ask him!

On a personal level, how did you feel sitting out of the last Scotland squad - was it strange not being involved?

It was just a bit different. I’m used to just continually rolling game after game, so I just took the decision that I took and it was different being on the outside looking. I want the team to do well and I watched bits of the game so it’s a bit of a different vantage point for me now and I’ll just rest up when I get the chance.

Saturday, St Johnstone without a manager. Scott Brown has been heavily linked, can you envisage him being a Premiership manager sooner or later?

I think so. I know Scott really well from his time here - played in midfield together for a number of years. When you do that, you understand what makes people tick and how good they really are and how much they understand the game. It’s no surprise, he’s went into management, he’s started really well and I see him having a Premiership job before too long.

It would be a strange one on Saturday if he was in charge, wouldn’t it? 

That’s just football, isn’t it? It’ll happen at some point I’m sure but I don’t think that will change the dynamic too much. I want to win, and he’ll want to win, so let’s go at it.