Johnston hopes mentor Juranovic stays at club
THE arrival of Alistair Johnston at Celtic may have portended the end of Josip Juranovic’s time at the club, but the Croatian international has left a parting gift ahead of a prospective move to Union Berlin.
Although it has been felt for some while that Juranovic would move on in this window, particularly after his impressive showings at the World Cup, he has gone out of his way to take Johnston under his wing since the right- back arrived in Glasgow, fresh from Qatar himself.
The quirks of the full- back role under Postecoglou are such that Juranovic has been a hugely valuable resource for Johnston in their short time training together, and while he had hoped to have him around as a sounding board for a little while longer, the Canadian had nothing but good things to say about the dedicat ion and professionalism of Juranovic in the midst of speculation over his future.
“He’s an unbelievable character,” Johnston said.
“No matter what’s been going on behind the scenes, he’s a great guy. He has taken me under his wing which has been really nice of him.
“Even at the World Cup, he talked to me after the match saying he was looking forward to being on the same squad, which was pretty cool.
“He’s been the ultimate professional. He comes in, works hard, trains unbelievably well. He’s another player I look up to, someone that I think I can take so much from and learn from.
“If I can add any bit of that dribbling skill he has, I’d take my game to another level altogether.
“I’m not sure what the future holds for him, but we hope it’s here at Celtic.”
Alas, that is not to be. And for all of the help Juranovic has given him, Johnston admits he still has some way to go to be fully comfortable in his new duties, spending a fair bit of time fighting the instincts he has honed during his career to date in his position.
“It’s definitely been a learning curve, but we have a really good group of full backs here who pulled me aside and talked me through some of the moments where maybe you’re going to want to come inside to fit with what the manager is looking for,” he said.
“The coaching staff have been great with that too. They’ve also been really understanding about the fact that it’s not a simple transition – not only is it a new squad, a new system, but it kind of goes against everything you have been taught as a full- back.”