Christopher Jullien on learning a new mentality

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Summer signing Christopher Jullien has opened up on the importance of learning the right mentality to play for Celtic.

The big 6ft 5in central-defender has taken the club to his heart in recent weeks and started to become the player we all hoped he would be. Jullien has saved his best performances for the big games, with his two displays against Rangers and Rennes among his finest.

But ahead of another big clash against Partick Thistle on Wednesday, the Frenchman has been speaking about the effect of pressure while playing for Celtic.

“It’s a real boost to be playing in a quarter-final so soon in my Celtic career,” he told the official club website. “I expected this because I came to a club that has won everything in the last three years.

“To play in a team that has been so successful brings a lot of pressure, but you can see that the new players are handling that very well. The players who have been here for some time have tried to teach me that mentality.

“So much of what we do is affected by our mind-set. We give 100 per cent in training and look after ourselves, but if you don’t have the right state of mind you will not show the best version of yourself.”

Jullien has already shown he has the right mentality

When the club spend millions on a new recruit, like Jullien or Boli Bolingoli, you kind of just assume that they’ll cope easily with the demands.

That isn’t always the case though and the slow starts of both have just gone to highlight that. At Celtic, winning is the most important thing. Jullien may have had a good career to date but he’s never won a trophy at club level. That’s something that can be hard to adjust to.

Thankfully he already seems to have a good grasp of what the club is all about. Having the likes of James Forrest, Scott Brown and Callum McGregor at the club will be a massive help for new players. They will be told what to expect, and what is expected of them, pretty much from day one.

Players make Celtic but the club also makes players. The likes of Mikael Lustig and Dedryck Boyata didn’t arrive as perennial winners, but they did depart ones. The same could happen to Jullien if he applies himself in the right manner.