McAllister out to prove Saints deserve the plaudits
ST MIRREN winger Kyle McAllister has been around the block enough to know that whenever teams outside of Glasgow’s big two inflict a shock defeat on the Old Firm, it’s never long before accusations are hurled left and right at “under-performing” Celtic and Rangers players.
Ahead of today’s trip to Ibrox, the 22-year-old is hoping to add another scalp to the Buddies’ collection in a campaign where they have been the only team to defeat Steven Gerrard’s side and where they recorded their first win at Parkhead in over 30 years.
The prospect of becoming the first club to defeat the men from Govan on league duty this season is a big enough carrot to be dangled in front of Jim Goodwin’s players, McAllister admits – even if he and his team-mates wouldn’t get the credit they deserved for an unlikely victory this afternoon.
“I feel like anytime you come up against Rangers or Celtic – even when you get results against them, it’s either ‘Rangers had a bad game’ or ‘Celtic had a bad game’,” he said. “When it’s leading up to it, it’s always about how it could be three points for Rangers or Celtic. It’s never about the other team or if they can get a result.
“We’re going into the game as underdogs as usual so we’re just hoping to put in a performance where we can change people’s minds.
“All my life when I’ve played against Rangers and Celtic, you never ever go in nervous. You always hear about nerves before big games or read in the paper how it could be four or five nil against teams like St Mirren. We just let that go past us and we get on with it.
“Hopefully we can go out there and get a point or three.”
JOHN Kennedy has stressed that Celtic won’t be pressurised into selling players for reduced fees amid the Covid-19 pandemic after Leicester City were linked with a £15m move for Odsonne Edouard.
The interim manager described the sum the Premier League club, where his former Parkhead colleague Brendan Rodgers is in charge, are reportedly preparing to offer for Edouard this summer as “far too cheap”.
The France Under-21 striker, who was yesterday named Premiership Player of the Month for February, has netted 21 goals for the quadruple treble winners during the 2020/21 campaign.
Kennedy insisted that any offer must meet the valuation that Celtic, who sold right back Jeremie Frimpong to Bayer Leverkusen in January for £11.5m, place on the forward before it is accepted.
Asked about the prospect of Leicester tabling a £15m bid for Edouard, whose current contract expires in 2022, he said: “That’s far too cheap for my liking. I know Odsonne well. It’s terrific that he’s been named Player of the Month today. His performances have been far more consistent. He’s getting the goals again, which is terrific for both him and us.
“With Celtic, any club like ours, when you have good players, they will always attract attention. That’s always been the case for as long as I’ve been here. But it needs to be right for everyone. He’s a terrific lad, really good to work with. And, when he’s on his game, he’s the top striker in the country without a shadow of a doubt. So getting that level of consistency, naturally the attention will be attracted. But ultimately we want to make sure everything is right for ourselves, as well.”
Kennedy added: “There comes a situation in terms of the remainder of a player’s contract and his motivation plus doing the right thing for the club regarding selling players on at the right time. It happens every season. We sat here last year having conversations about Kristoffer Ajer when there were question marks about his future. It’s happened to a number of others as well. That comes around every time the transfer window is about to reopen. It’s just about doing what’s best for the club first and foremost and then the player so we’ll see what happens with that.”