Greg Taylor was the first to stand up for Jota in a certain Hearts vs Celtic flashpoint last night, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Hoops supporters.
Taylor is so often criticised, many times unfairly, as debate has consistently raged over whether he’s good enough to be the club’s number 1 left-back. However, what we saw last night was a fully-committed pro who would do anything for his teammates.
Last season, so many Celtic fans were left dismayed by how the players reacted to heated moments. Whilst other teams would back their teammates and get in our faces, we would have our top stars staying away from it and behaving like individuals. There simply was no team spirit.
All season we’ve seen signs of the fight being reinstalled into the current Celtic squad by Ange Postecoglou. There’s a real family feel to the club that’s been shown in goal celebrations, post-match celebrations, and the general passion being shown on the pitch.
And last night, there was a moment that at first looked innocuous before Taylor came charging in.
Greg Taylor shows the fight we want to see; stands up for Celtic teammate
There was a cheeky moment from Hearts’ Cammy Devlin. He managed to catch Jota and decided to trap his leg. Instead of releasing it, he seemed to move in a way that gave the Celtic star’s leg a slight twist. Thankfully, there was no injury knock that came from it as Jota pushed the Hearts man away.
It was subtle, but it could’ve led to a knock. Given the player’s injury issues over the previous month and a half, it was silly from Devlin.
And Taylor was absolutely furious with it. He charged over to the Hearts man with sheer anger on his face. He forced Devlin away from Jota and let him know full pelt what he thought of his actions. He was then joined by the likes of Josip Juranovic and Joe Hart, whilst Giorgos Giakoumakis immediately came in to try and ease things.
It was a small yet brilliant moment from Taylor. Too often last season we were total pushovers when it came to antics like this. Teams knew they could treat us with contempt knowing they wouldn’t get anything back. Taylor’s anger here is a sign of the fight being instilled by Ange and it’s beautiful to see.
And thankfully, it’s not something that went unnoticed by the supporters either. Here’s a look at what fans thought of the incident as they lauded the fightback shown:
In other news, Ange loving the hard work previously criticised Celtic player is putting in at Lennoxtown
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