Scot Gemmill has been talking up Celtic defender Stephen Welsh in the media.
The Scotland under-21 manager knows Welsh well from their time together in the youth international setup. Welsh is now too old to play for Gemmill‘s side but there is still clearly a lot of good feeling between the pair.
Celtic’s defender is set to miss the next three to four months after damaging ligaments in his ankle. But Gemmill still reckons he has a big role to play at the club, as he highlighted his humble personality and cited a recent trip to Ibrox — the home of our fierce Glasgow rivals.
“It’s really refreshing to see Stephen still have the same humility about him and also the way he conducts himself,” Gemmill said, as reported by the Scottish Sun.
“To put that in context, I can remember going to watch the Glasgow Cup final in May at Ibrox. There was only one Celtic player there to watch the young boys play and it was Stephen.
“He’s still got that kind of down-to-earth way about him as well as wanting to support those young players dreaming of their breakthrough.
“For me that’s always quite insightful, when you see a young player who has had that kind of exposure to the first team but he’s still keen to go and watch the younger age groups.
“I was really pleased to see Stephen there that night watching the Glasgow Cup final. It really reinforced what I felt about him, how much he loves his club and how much he loves football. I think it says a lot.”
Welsh is a genuinely decent guy. He’s a Celtic fan who would follow the club home and away if he hadn’t made it as a professional.
As a result, he respects and appreciates the supporters. After our 5-1 Champions League loss to Real Madrid late last year, he was one of the few players to take time to applaud the thousands of Celtic supporters.
While all of that is great, it’s even more encouraging to hear that he is turning out to cheer on the stars of the future, like at Ibrox in May.
Having come through the academy only a few years ago, it seems like he hasn’t forgotten his Celtic upbringing. That may be a big support to the B team players, knowing that he is backing them all the way.
Celtic won the Glasgow Cup that night at Ibrox. You may recall us going in to an early 3-0 lead before being pegged back to 3-3 and coming out on top in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
A victory at first-team level at the same ground the weekend after next would go down well with us all.
In other news, Celtic find themselves in the midst of a bit of an injury crisis at present
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