Kasper Schmeichel was part of Celtic’s title celebrations at Tannadice over the weekend.
Despite injury disrupting the end of Schmeichel’s campaign, he has played a huge part in Celtic’s success this season and the club’s push for a Treble.
When Joe Hart retired last summer, many questioned what road the champions would go down, in regard to what profile of goalkeeper they would bring in.
Celtic ticked both boxes by signing rising youngster Viljami Sinisalo from Aston Villa, who has fared very well in between the sticks during Schmeichel’s absence, and the experienced shot-stopper himself.
The Denmark star has had an illustrious career in England, coming through at Manchester City and famously winning the Premier League title at Leicester City.
But now he has got a taste of life with Scotland’s most successful club, and he is loving every minute of it.
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Kasper Schmeichel shares that he isn’t surprised by the Celtic fans
Despite having such a great career, this is the biggest club Schmeichel has played for, and he understood the assignment straightaway.
The 38-year-old shared how ‘this is special’ when he first met the Celtic Park faithful during the club’s pre-season tour of America.
Schmeichel explained how, following Hart’s career at Celtic, meant that he wasn’t surprised by the power of the Celtic fans, as he told Sky Sports Football (26/04/25).
“I have absolutely loved it, it’s amazing,” responded Schmeichel on coming to Celtic at this stage of his career.
“We are away from home. I don’t know how many stands we have. It’s everywhere we go. It’s incredible.
“I knew from the moment that I signed here, when I met the team in America, saw how many fans were there and think, ‘this is special’.
“It didn’t surprise me because I had been following Joe (Hart) and his kind of journey quite closely, so I knew all about it.
“So, the second Brendan rang, there was no question in my mind.”
Schmeichel on what the Celtic players always talk about in the dressing room
There aren’t many clubs around the world with the pressures and demands of Celtic. You are better off finishing second than last.
But, in recent times, the expectations, you could argue, have gone beyond the imagination because Celtic can’t stop winning Trebles.
That means that the demand inside the dressing room are as strong and fearsome as ever, as Schmeichel shares what is always being discussed by the players.
“Much is made of the Scottish league and the competition,” said Schmeichel. “But you still have to turn up. You have to turn up and win every single game.
“We came to Dundee United, against a team that doesn’t concede a lot of goals, and play the way we do. That’s what champions do. You can only beat what is in front of you. We have done that consistently all season.
“It’s not up to us what other teams do. We can only focus on ourselves, and this season, I think we have been phenomenal.
“It’s extremely difficult (to have that consistency throughout the season). It’s definitely not to be underestimated. It’s tough. Physically. It’s tough mentally, but that relentless nature is what we are all about. It’s what we talk about in the dressing room all the time.
“It’s about every single time we turn up. We have to be 100%, and we can’t have off days. We saw against St Johnstone, anything can happen, so off days just don’t exist for us.”
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