Anthony Ralston has dismissed any notion of a battle between himself and Josip Juranovic in comments that highlight just how unified Celtic is.
Ralston and Juranovic have both impressed the Celtic supporters this season. However, both men are also vying for the same right-back berth. The Croat has been a particular favourite of Ange Postecoglou since his arrival from Legia Warsaw in the summer. So much so that when Ralston has featured, Josip has regularly just moved over to left-back.
As we get set for a nervy title run-in, question marks hover over who Ange will rely on to spearhead his title push. Chances are that both play a huge part, but Josip continues to be the first-choice at right-back as things stand.
Even so, Ralston admitted that it’s all about a team effort at Parkhead and that he has no issue if Josip is given the nod ahead of him. As quoted by The National, Ralston said: “Neither me nor Josip see it as a challenge against each other. If Josip’s in, I support him. If I’m in and I’m playing then he supports me fully. It is healthy to have competition in all places, not just the one we’re in.
“He is a quality player and I’ve had a good season myself. So we are both in a good place, we are both in good form, so whoever’s playing is playing, and whoever’s not supports the other person, both on and off the field.
“It is about doing a job for the team. That is the most important thing. It is not about who is playing over who or what competition. That is not how we see it.”
Anthony Ralston pushes Celtic team unity
Team unity has always been one of the most important traits of the Postecoglou era. Ange has always been pushing the idea that the club is a family. Not even just in terms of the players, but the supporters, the backroom staff – everyone. It’s a collective experience and that’s been a staple of the Ange era so far.
We all know that footballers would rather play than sit on the bench. It would be an insult to any of our intelligence levels if we were to pretend otherwise. But clearly, there’s a genuine desire to see positional rivals due well at this club.
There’s no reason to believe that what Ralston says here isn’t genuine. Despite missing out on some big games to Juranovic this season, Anthony has yet to complain. His attitude remains 100% spot on and this isn’t something isolated to him alone.
It’s a mindset that’s been instilled by Postecoglou. A mindset that the club is all that matters and that if the team is successful, then the players as individuals will be successful.
You have to say that much of the reason Ange has been able to keep such a strong bond between the players is down to his rotation and man-management skills. It was never going to be easy managing such a big squad throughout the campaign. But everyone appears to be in a great frame of mind just a couple of months away from the end of the season.
It’s an incredible achievement for the manager to have instilled this into the group. The unity at the club hasn’t been as strong as this for some time. That alone deserves endless praise for Ange. Hopefully, it ends up leading us to the title in his first year.
In other news, Ange hits out at Daizen Maeda’s Celtic critics with some much-needed education
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