Celtic defender Greg Taylor has revealed what skipper Callum McGregor said to his teammates before they kicked-off the match on Sunday.
The Hoops captain reminded the Celtic players that you never get tired of winning before they defeated Rangers 2-1 in the final of the Viaplay Cup.
Taylor is delighted to be part of a squad that have such hunger for success having now three of the past four honours in Scottish football.
They look in pole position to make that four out of five as Ange Postecoglou’s side currently sit nine points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a huge goal difference.
Sunday’s League Cup win made it 22 trophies in 11 years for the Hoops and Taylor has warned that the squad are showing no signs of taking their foot off the gas or success for granted.
There was a lot of noise coming from Rangers heading into the game, but as always Celtic were focused on themselves and letting their football do the talking.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it, to be honest. It’s such a difficult thing to do. People don’t realise that. We’re fortunate that we’re at a club where you get the chance most years to compete,” said Taylor as quoted by the [Daily Record].
“But it’s getting that over the line, we are in a very fortunate position. Everyone in that changing room realises that. Just winning a trophy for this club is the best feeling. Callum made a good point on the pitch – you don’t get tired of it because it’s the best feeling in the world
26th February 2023; Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland: Scottish Viaplay Cup Football Final, Rangers versus Celtic; Callum McGregor of Celtic with the cup
“Winning trophies, it’s what the club demands. The support on Sunday, I thought they were outstanding. They deserved it.”
For some of the guys within the Celtic squad like Alistair Johnston it was his first ever major honour in football along with Aaron Mooy who last won a major honour back in 2013 at Western Sydney Wanderers.
The players were absolutely fantastic on the day and were also deserving of more silverware as they masterfully tore Rangers apart.
Although the Ibrox club had a late rally after Morelos scored the scoreline could have gotten messy towards the end of the game as chances were missed by Sead Haksabanovic and Matt O’Riley.
When asked whether the win was made all the more sweeter after Fashion Sakala’s comments leading into the game Taylor dismissed the notion.
“I don’t think we are about making points to other teams. Rangers are a good opponent. It was a difficult game.
“We just focus on ourselves and set our own benchmarks in terms of a level of performance. Hopefully we can continue to do that as the rest of the season goes on.
“I felt we deserved to win it. In the first half we had good control of the match. We were the dominant team. When we got the second goal, after that we maybe got a wee bit slack in our play and Rangers obviously came back into the game.
“At 2-1 in a Cup Final, it’s inevitable that you feel as if you are holding on a little bit. But we did that and we could have scored a few more.
‘We stood up to the challenge in that spell. They play a lot of direct balls, they fight for everything and they have got strong and quick players at the top end. So we knew it wouldn’t be easy. There are always going to be points in the game against a good opponent where they have spells but we’re just glad that we played our football and came out of it with the trophy.”
