JULLIEN FIRES CRITICS BLAST
positive vibe around the Hoops squad ahead of today’s vital clash with Hamilton but Jullien and his team-mates know they must keep winning to avoid losing further ground on Rangers in the title race.
Neil Lennon’s side have been hammered this season for the lacklustre performances which have seen them drop 16 points behind in the table, with three games in hand.
Jullien believes it’s easy for outsiders to have a go and he said: “Nine in a row and winning so many trophies is very difficult, but people think it is just easy because it is Celtic.
“That’s what the coach tells us every day, it’s not easy. He says people outside think it is, but it’s not. We know it.
“Sometimes I would like to give my boots to other people and let them come on to the field so that they can see what the pressure feels like.
“Football is not always easy. It can be hard. It is the job that we do and we are paid for it.
“I am now 27 years old and I just learn about these things every day.
“With the experience I have got now, I realise that sometimes you just have to go into your bubble and get through things to get out of any bad run and go up the way.
“This is football and sometimes it doesn’t work as you want. Fans or other people are watching the games on the TV and sometimes they don’t see the work that we are doing to try and make it better.
“But I also think that 80 per cent of football is in the head. It’s in the brain. A professional footballer has confidence when he is thinking positively.
Everything that he is doing is just easy. The game feels easy.
“Sometimes people can look and think that it’s always easy. Maybe it is when you have the confidence, but when you do not have it, sometimes the game can be really hard. You don’t play the game yourself.
“You are playing with 11 and, when things are not going in the right direction or you are not really on the same page at times, it can be different.
“It was a difficult time. I know in football there are some bad runs sometimes and you just have to bounce back.
“That’s the quality you can see in a good footballer. The quality to bounce back when things are not so good. I really have the feeling that we are now on a good vibe.”
The champions have been improving over the past month with a quadruple Treble snared and back-to-back Premiership wins secured for the first time since the start of October.
Jullien added: “You can see that everyone is feeling good. When we just think positively and we count on each other, football is easy.
“With the quality we have, we can do it, but everyone was questioning what we have because we had a bad run.
“Now I hope and I can’t wait for the next games because I am really confident about the quality of the side.”
Asked if he could sense a freedom in the play now, Jullien said: “Yeah, you can see it now on the field.
“You can see it seems easy when we go in the one direction.
“One and two touch, balls down the sides, runs, go in front of goal, score.
“Football can be easy and simple if you are positive and feeling in a good way. When you are on a bad run, it’s not like that.”