Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Players want to win every game.. at Celtic we know we have to
BOLI FEELING THE PRESSURE WITH HOOPS.. AND LOVING IT
BOLI BOLINGOLI has never known pressure like it.
But the Celtic defender insists he’s relishing the mental tests which must be passed to prosper through life with the eight in a row champions.
Bolingoli has been at big clubs in Belgium and Austria. At Brugge (right) and Rapid Vienna, there are demands to succeed.
Yet, with the greatest of respect to both clubs, neither can compare with Celtic when it comes to constant expectation.
Winning is the only accepted outcome. Draws are a calamity. Losses a disaster. Throughout the years, foreign stars have been swallowed up by the stresses of Glasgow and folded.
Bolingoli feels it. But rather than crumble, he’s seizing the stress and puffing out his chest.
He said: “Of course, pressure is always good if it’s healthy. It can push you up and make you perform.
“It was a bit like that at Brugge but not like here at Celtic. I wasn’t playing all of the time there like now, for example.
“Mentally we are very strong. We just try to do our job and you see the whole team is doing well. I’ve just come back from injury but I feel I am coping.
“I actually feel more of the pressure here that we have to win every game but I can’t complain, it feels good.
“As a player you want to win every game and here at Celtic we know we have to.”
The Hoops are doing a terrific job of keeping their physical and mental levels high as they keep pushing towards more success.
With the Betfred Cup in the bag and a place in the last 32 of the Europa League booked, Lennon’s men have now chalked up 10 straight wins in the Premiership to forge a five-point lead at the top with another Old Firm clash on the horizon this Sunday.
Odsonne Edouard bagged a priceless winner against Aberdeen on Saturday and Bolingoli said: “He is important, but every player is important at Celtic. What Odsonne is doing for us up front is just him doing his job and he is doing it well.
“He is so important to the team and when he plays you feel the difference, but every attacker from Ryan Christie to James Forrest are doing amazing here.
“They are all important. At the end we have taken the three points in the last 10 games, so we can’t complain.”