CELTIC PARK, TOMORROW, 8PM
playing he could be used anywhere – a holding midfielder or an attacking one, he has everything to his game.
“He’s just as effective as Scott when he sits in, which he has done often enough in a 4-2-3-1.
“Wherever he’s used, he brings his range of passing and his game intelligence to the role. He’s a big-game player.
“He has too much to offer in the final third to play the holding role but he has proved he can play there. He can do a job at this level for another 10 years because he can drop back.
“He’s great at keeping the ball moving first-time and the difference between him and others is that he always looks to play a forward pass.
“Callum’s not one of those negative players who knocks it sideways and backwards – he tries to break the lines – plus he’s a goal threat with that left foot.
“He’s the archetypal modernday midfielder, one who’s able to control the direction and tempo of matches. I’ve seen Leicester City are supposed to be coming back in for him but it would take a hell of a lot of money to take him away from Celtic.
“I’m not surprised Brendan
Rodgers is interested and I’m sure he won’t be the only one. Callum seems to like being at Parkhead but £25m is a lot of money for any Scottish club.
“Another thing I like about him is that he’s a level-headed player who doesn’t seem to get involved with social media, which is unusual nowadays.
“He just goes about his job week after week and in a professional manner.” With such a big gap over their bitter rivals, Hartley argues Celts can dedicate more focus to Europe. He said: “If they go through then it comes down to luck of the draw but that won’t worry them. “There’s also the potential for them to win a quadruple Treble, which is incredible when you consider the number of cup ties they’ve won now. “They’ve already won the Betfred Cup, they’re looking good for the title and they’ve been in incredible form since coming back from the break. “Not many teams play two up front these days but it has worked really well for Neil since changing formation. “They wanted to try something different after taking so much criticism for losing to Rangers on December 29 and the switch has paid off. They went to Dubai and worked on it and it looks as though the players are enjoying it.” Hartley was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.