ON both a personal and collective level, there is perhaps one phrase that sums up Carl Starfelt’s start to life at Celtic; there is more to come.
Certainly, that is what he hopes. For himself, there is the hope for greater consistency, with his rocky start to life on the field in Scotland giving way to a sustained period of impressive performances that have given Celtic fans hope they may have found a gem in the big centre-back after all.
For the team, there was immediate success under Ange Postecoglou as they bagged the first trophy of the season with the League Cup, and the part he played in that Hampden success for Celtic has the Swede thirsting for more as they prepare to kick off their Scottish Cup campaign at Alloa tomorrow night.
“Every player who comes to Celtic strives for as many trophies as possible,” Starfelt said.
“We got the first one for the season a few weeks ago and we are hungry for more.
“It’s the best feeling in the world to win trophies so we will do our best in this competition.
“We are targeting success in every competition we are in and we will give our all.”
For much of the season, there has been talk about the lack of depth at Celtic manager Postecoglou’s disposal. It was one of the reasons why Starfelt was thrown in at the deep end in the first place, taking on Hearts at Tynecastle in the season opener before he properly knew the names of his teammates.
Now though, despite the potential for losing players to international duty, Starfelt feels there is more than enough within the Celtic changing room – both in terms of quality and quantity – for them to be able to fight on their three remaining fronts. He welcomes it, even if that means increased competition for his own place in the side.
“That’s where the depth of the squad becomes so important,” he said. “You saw we had a lot of injuries in the first half of the season.
“I feel the squad is in a good place right now and we have the potential to fight in many different competitions. The game this weekend will be another new experience.
“It would be optimal to have all of our players available at all times, of course. At the moment it looks like we might have some players away with their national teams, so it’s not ideal for the team.
“But it is what it is. We will not be too affected by it mentality. We won’t think about it too much as we are confident we can put out a strong team in these games regardless.
“We had a lot of injuries in the first part of the season and a lot of guys coming in without having had pre-seasons and having adapted quickly.
“We have had to adapt and we’ve been through a lot. I doesn’t feel like I’ve only been here six months!
“You can take confidence from going through tough times and then coming out the other side.
“I’m always been pretty confident in this squad all along but it’s great to see reinforcements. It gives us more depth in the group, which is really important with so many games.
“It’s not just going to be 11 players who do it – we need everyone. You can rotate in some games and rest players at times.
“We are looking strong. It’s always good to have competition for places. It pushes everyone to really do their best.
“Right now we have competition in every position. It makes training interesting and it’s not so easy for the manager to pick his squad every week.
“In defence we also have Christopher Jullien coming back. That’s also good as you want players who can contribute.”
The early signs are that the three Japanese players brought in at the start of the January window can do just that, particularly early goalscorer against Hibernian on Monday night Daizen Maeda, and man of the match Reo Hatate.
Yosuke Ideguchi also made his bow late on, and Starfelt has been hugely impressed by what he has seen so far from the trio.
“You couldn’t ask for a better start,” he said. “All three of the new guys did very well.
“As a team we are happy to see they can come in and put on a performance like that straight away.
“It definitely helped that they managed to get some training time in before the game and I’m sure they got some confidence from seeing the impact Kyogo made here.
“Kyogo has always helped them adapt and the club has done a really good job of helping them settle here.
“They got the opportunity the other night and they really took it.”
Starfelt believes there is more to come from those three players too, with a moment from Monday night’s win giving an insight into the mentality that has helped them settle into life in Scotland seamlessly.
Hatate was caught on camera looking flabbergasted as teammate James Forrest explained he had been awarded the man of the match award, and Starfelt says their humility will be a key asset in their success.
“I didn’t see Reo was surprised to get man of the match at the time, but that was funny,” he said.
“But he is that kind of guy. Reo and the rest of the new guys are very humble and down to earth. They are hard-working and share a similar sense of spirit.
“They want to contribute to the team. Kyogo and Maeda are similar in that they don’t just focus on the attacking side. They also want to help out in defence and that really suits us.
“They will fit in very well here. We are delighted to have them.”
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