Crisis is old hat for a new Bhoy
As Celtic struggle and the manager comes under fire, Roberts reveals how he endured similar troubles at Fulham... but is certain Deila’s men will recover
THOSE who fear Patrick Roberts’ prodigious talent will fade amid the tumult and rancour currently engulfing Celtic Park can rest easy.
At the tender age of 19, the winger is already something of an old hand at crisis management.
It might be said that if you can survive making your debut in Felix Magath’s chaotic Fulham side of two years ago, you can probably survive anything.
Despite the German’s vast experience and success in his homeland, his appointment in west London was an unmitigated disaster.
The Cottagers’ third manager of the season when he took over in January 2014, he did nothing to avert the slide towards the drop.
When he was sacked after taking just one point from seven games in the Championship, madcap stories from his boot camp surfaced, most notably his belief that a lump of cheese would cure defender Brede Hangeland’s damaged knee.
Despite their reputation as being among the country’s more genteel fans, Fulham’s faithful were not shy at letting new owner Shahid Khan know exactly what they felt about the direction the club was taking.
‘We lost nearly every game, so we were booed constantly by our own fans,’ Roberts recalled. ‘And they’re not known for being rough fans — Hammersmith and Fulham are good areas of London. I was younger then and I was at the club for only a year-and-a-half but I experienced a lot there and that has helped me in my career.
‘Every game could be your last anyway, so you always have to give 100 per cent. It’s not great when the fans boo but it’s part and parcel of football. Supporters get angry, so now we have to play better and prove them wrong.
‘At Fulham, it was happening in every match and that was horrible to be involved in, never mind to watch.’
Just because the cat- calls that engulfed Celtic Park at the end of an insipid goalless draw with Dundee on Wednesday were familiar to Roberts’ ears, that is not to say they simply didn’t register.
‘I was a fan myself and you want to see the team play well. So, when we got a draw on Wednesday — when we should be winning — then the crowd will react,’ he added.
‘It’s a bit different being booed when you’re top of the league but we’re expected to win constantly. We have to use that as motivation for the next game.’
For Roberts, making his first home start i n such strained circumstances for the club with whom he will spend the next 18 months was far from ideal.
It said much about how devoid of i deas Ronny Deila’s side had become that, by the closing stages of the match, the teenager from Manchester City hadn’t j ust become t he best hope of a breakthrough. He’d become the only one. The fact his eyecatching display was, by common consent, the only positive from the game, meant there were at least crumbs of comfort for Roberts to t a ke from an otherwise difficult night.
‘It didn’t pan out the way I planned,’ he conceded. ‘ It was a disappointing result. We should have taken more from i t than a draw but we g o once again o n Sunday.
‘I got a taste of it the weekend before last (against Inverness Caley Thistle) and it i s an unbelievable stadium. I’ve seen it on the big European match nights and weekend games on the TV and it’s unbelievable. To get out and start, even walking down the tunnel, is fantastic. ‘I have two siblings and either them or my mum and try to dad get every game t hey can. They were amazing l ast season and travelled to watch Fulham’s away games. ‘It was my dad’s first time at Celtic Park and he enjoyed it.’ The instant affinity the Celtic fans appear to have for Roberts would have pleased his f ather no end. Quick, intelligent and impossibly skilful, it is already apparent why he was whisked f rom Craven Cottage to Manchester City with a £12million price tag on his back last summer.
‘I think it’s to do with the way I play,’ added Roberts. ‘I had it at Fulham and Manchester City as well.
‘ The fans would take to me because of the way I play. My mum and dad enjoy that, too — just like the supporters. Maybe the way I play is quite catching on the eye, I don’t know.
‘I’ve always felt confident on the pitch. It’s what I’ve been doing for a few years now and I’m waiting to kick on.’
Despite the dark clouds hovering above Celtic Park at the moment, Roberts already feels at ease in the place he will call home until the summer of 2017.
For a fan base accustomed to bona-fide wingers for generations — and the very best of them, too — the sight of defenders being eliminated by skill and stealth has long been a reason to part with their hard-earned cash.
‘Peter Grant (the former Celtic player) was at Fulham (as a coach) during my time there and one day I was walking out the tunnel and one of the fans said to me: “Ask him about Jimmy Johnstone”,’ Roberts recalled.
‘I had no clue what he was on about, so I never asked Peter. But when I came here, I found out they rave about Jimmy Johnstone (left).
‘Allan Preston looks after me up here and he goes on about Jinky Johnstone, saying he was an unbelievable player. It’s funny that, because one of the Fulham fans did tell me that two years ago.’
Grant, a Celtic man to his bootstraps, would doubtless have told Roberts the potted history of the entire club had he asked. Little in the last 20 months would have made the cut, though.
A season which began with manager Deila acknowledging it would largely be defined by an ability to qualify for the Champions League is in danger of becoming
“We were booed constantly by our own fans”
infamous for a failure to retain the Scottish Premiership. Standards have not so much slipped, as fallen off a cliff.
Increasingly, it looks inevitable the Norwegian will pay for the slump with his j ob come the summer
A Scottish Cup defeat to Championship side Morton at Parkhead tomorrow will bring matters to a head before then.
‘I feel for him (Deila) because he’s not the one going out there and playing every week,’ added Roberts.
‘He has good intentions at heart but we didn’t quite click against Dundee, which is disappointing because we know we can do it.
‘But we didn’t find our rhythm and didn’t get into the game. Now we’ve got to prove to him again that we can play.
‘When he spoke to us on Thursday, t here was anger and al s o disappointment. We know — and he knows — it wasn’t good enough.
‘It’s not working, so we need to get together and sort i t out because it’s tight at the top. We can’t be slipping up at this stage of the season.’
Given how acrimoniously Wednesday ended, you dread to think what would lie in store if Morton aren’t sent packing with something to spare tomorrow.
It’s a game likely to separate the men from the boys. Despite his youthful appearance, don’t doubt what camp Roberts will be found in.
‘Pressure is good for me, I think,’ he said. ‘The more pressure there is, the better I play because, when your back’s against the wall, you have something to prove — to the fans, especially.
‘The most important thing is that you play for the supporters because, without them, it would just be a boring game of football. They bring more entertainment to the game than we do because of the excitement they generate.
‘When they pay money to watch you every week, you’ve got to give them something back and let them see some good football.’