“It is 100 per cent a wake-up call,” Liam Scales on Celtic’s turbulent season

A delighted Liam Scales spoke to the mainstream media at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon after Celtic’s sensational 3-1 victory over Hearts secured the Scottish Premiership title for yet another season…

The Celtic central defender, who Sandman yesterday named as his Man of the Match ahead of Daizen Maeda, was like every other Celtic supporter, just thrilled at the title triumph and the manner in which it was won with another late, late show with a decisive goal from the Japanese talisman and the icing on the cake from young Callum Osmand who himself was a real difference making after getting the assist on Daizen’s goal.

“The whole world wanted Hearts to win this title,” the Ireland international centre-half noted via TCW as he revealed how the Celtic players were shutting out the external noise surrounding Hearts’ attempt to become the first side outside of Glasgow to become Champions of Scotland since Alex Ferguson led Aberdeen to the title in 1985.

“If we weren’t able to block that out, I think it would have been very difficult,” Scales admitted. “But I think it was key for us. Everyone was rooting for the other side, as I would have been if I had been on the other side. That is part of football. It would have been an amazing story for them. I think that was key for us – to block out that noise, focus on our performances and get back to our best form towards the end of the season.”

A Hearts challenge would have seemed unlikely last summer as everyone talked about Celtic continuing to dominate and Rangers under new ownership mounting a more serious challenge. It was expected to be a two horse race and probably most folk associated with Hearts would have felt that way too.

“I don’t think anyone would have predicted this at the start of the season,” Liam Scales said. “That is football – it throws wild cards at you sometimes.

“They are a really good side. They are really difficult to play against – very physical, very well organised, you know they can hurt you from set pieces, their wingers are tricky and their strikers can finish. All through the pitch, they are a really good side.

“They have definitely put themselves right in the mix and I don’t think that will be them gone. It will be bitterly disappointing for them, but I am sure they will be desperate to get back next season and produce the same level of performances,” Scales added.

“They will obviously feel hard done by having been top of the league for such a large proportion of the season. But we can’t dwell on that. I’m sure they won’t. They will bounce back. I am sure we will see the same next season.”

On Celtic’s turbulent season with all sorts of things going on from managerial changes, poor recruitment across both transfer windows and ongoing fan unrest which was parked going into the split so that the entire collective energy of the Celtic support could be thrown behind the team for the five matches that had to be played. It certainly worked wonders for the team who managed to collect maximum points to pip Hearts at the post in the closing minutes of the game on Saturday to win the league by two clear points.

The table never lies

“There have been a lot of lows, but the highs have outweighed them massively. The highs have just been incredible – the last-minute goals, the wins in the games we needed to win, players stepping up. It has been an amazing season to be a part of,” Scales noted.

“Obviously at times we weren’t at our best and that is what let Hearts in I suppose. In the last few years, when we were at our best, we had it wrapped up early on. But credit to them, they pushed us to the last minute on the last day. So it is tough for them, but for us it is an incredible high. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that before in football. It was amazing.”

Liam Scales never lost faith in the team to come back to win the league despite all the setbacks and controversies that have littered the season for Celtic..

“I really thought all along we would get back into it and hit form at the right time and win it,” the Celtic defender. “A lot of people in the dressing room believed that as well. That is what pushed us on to actually do it.”

He added: “We could have made it easier for ourselves, but we always felt with the fixtures we had post-split, playing Hearts at home, playing Rangers at home, that we could go and get five wins.

“We knew if we did that, it would really give us the best possible chance. We were able to do that. It was obviously disappointing at those times when we dropped points, but there was never a feeling of it being out of reach.”

And Scales has somehow managed to relish the drama of a remarkable season, although he might not have thought that way had the outcome been different. And he was also full of praise for the job Martin O’Neill has done over his two spells back at the club this season.

“I have loved every minute of it. He put his trust around me early on and I felt that through both spells. I felt like he has trusted me, I felt like I was a foot taller going out on that pitch because of that.

“His man management has been incredible. I think in key moments in key games he makes great decisions, great substitutions. He brought Kelechi on at half-time on Saturday and then brought on Callum who hasn’t played for months and he scores. These decisions have defined our season. So he deserves a lot of credit for that.

“Then Shaun, Fozzy, Mick, Gav, Greg, all the lads deserve massive credit as well, as they are the ones on the pitch every day with us. It has been an incredible group of coaching staff to work with over the last season.”

“It was pure joy, I suppose, and then when the fans started to come on, you think, ‘We probably need to get off the pitch here’,” Scales admitted. “I didn’t know if the game was over or not. It was carnage. Obviously they are overjoyed. It a crazy moment and an emotional moment and I loved every minute of it. I didn’t see anything that crossed the line myself. It was crazy.

“As players, we did our very best. We always do our best. Maybe for the club, the inconsistency with management, the chopping and changing, didn’t help. They know that. But they had to make a decision to bring the gaffer back midway through the season and it has worked for them so credit to them.

“But it is 100 per cent a wake-up call. We weren’t at our best, we lost too many games throughout the season, but to be able to bounce back has just made it sweeter really. I have never had a day like that. It is incredible really.”

Looking ahead to the next challenges and they come thick and fast for this Celtic team in this magnificent era for the club.  “I hope we can kick on from winning the title and qualify for the Champions League. That will be our main focus after the Scottish Cup final.”

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