GREG Taylor has backed his fellow Celtic full-back Tony Ralston to build on his impressive start to the 2021/22 campaign and improve even further in the coming months.
Ralston was the only specialist right back in the Parkhead squad when new manager Ange Postecoglou arrived in Scotland last month.
However, the 22-year-old has grasped the chance the Greek-Australian coach has given him and been one of the Glasgow club’s outstanding performers.
Taylor has been delighted to see his team mate, who has started in all eight of Celtic’s matches and scored two goals, flourish this season.
And he is confident his countryman can, despite Croatian defender Josip Juranovic being targeted, continue to feature in the first team and develop his game.
“He’s done really, really well,” he said. “Tony can be delighted with himself. There’s a lot of boys who have done really well since the gaffer came in.
“But certainly Tony has done really well. Tony’s performances since he came back from pre-season have been excellent. He’s played well in most games.
“I thought on Wednesday night he was outstanding. I’m sure he’s delighted with himself, but he’s a level-headed lad who’ll be looking to continue to improve also.”
Taylor admitted that Ralston, who has netted in cinch Premiership matches against Hearts and Dundee, has inspired him to contribute more in the final third of the park.
“I'm not promising 10 a season,” he said. “I've scored two in my career so I could certainly improve on it.”
Postecoglou’s use of inverted full-backs has raised eyebrows this season, but Taylor stressed that he and Ralston are both relishing the change.
“The way the gaffer wants to play is physically and mentally demanding for everyone,” he said. “Whether it is the boys at the top pressing or the guys at the back trying to squeeze the line.
“But these are the strains you want to put on yourself as a footballer because you want to try to push yourself to produce your maximum every game.
“I think the demands are just different. The gaffer is got his own way of playing and it is one that we have all bought into and you can see that is coming to fruition now and we are enjoying it. I don’t think there are right or wrong answers, it is just a different way of playing.
“I just want to learn and improve every game. I’ve got a good club, good coaching staff here that have helped me do that since I first signed and I now have a new manager doing that.
“I really enjoy the way the gaffer wants to play, whether it is a full-back coming inside and getting on the ball and feeding a winger, I enjoy that aspect of it. I’m eager to, I hope, continue to improve and continue to learn.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel