Immovable objects and unstoppable forces to the fore for Celtic
Toure has been sidelined by the success of Simunovic and Sviatchenko but the veteran stopper aims to stick around
TUESDAY evening in a corridor deep inside the Etihad Stadium and Kolo Toure is explaining to Sportsmail the circumstances under which he might extend his Celtic career into a second season. Mid-conversation he apologises and breaks off to greet his former Manchester City team-mate Aleksandar Kolarov. After a warm hug and exchange of pleasantries, the conversation between the two quickly alights on the subject of Jozo Simunovic, the Croatian defender who has effectively taken Toure’s place in the Celtic team.
‘You know Jozo?’ asks Toure. ‘Good, good player.’
Kolarov laughs and points out that, as a Serbian, he has never encountered Simunovic personally. Nevertheless, he admits to being impressed by what he has just seen from the 22-year-old in the 1-1 draw that concluded the Champions League group stage.
The respect is genuine and illustrates the imposing physical barrier that now stands between Toure and a regular game at Celtic.
Recruited by Brendan Rodgers for his nous and big-game experience, qualities he brought to bear during the early part of the season when the club qualified for the Champions
League and got off to a flying start in the Ladbrokes Premiership, Toure has now reverted to the role of fringe player.
A minor injury did not help but, ultimately, he is being kept out by the burgeoning partnership of Erik Sviatchenko and Simunovic, who has been shaking off the effects of a long-standing knee problem to emerge as a defender of substance.
‘Jozo is a good boy and only 22 years old,’ said Toure. ‘I have been very impressed by his quality. He has been injured for a long time but now he is training so well every day. When you are not playing in the team yourself you see these things but I have been more than happy because he is doing the job. He is a top professional.
‘Erik is a very good player too, very powerful and energetic. The boys do very well.’
It was Toure and Sviatchenko who played out the first half of the Champions League campaign at the back, shipping 12 goals in three fixtures as Rodgers’ team tried to get up to pace with a group featuring the stellar quality of not only Pep Guardiola’s City but Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach and a Barcelona side featuring a frightening front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
Barca hit Celtic and Toure for seven in the Nou Camp on opening night but, by the time they arrived in Glasgow for the return last month, Rodgers’ team had settled down, with Simunovic making a good impression on his Champions League debut, despite the 0-2 scoreline.
Having been brought in to engender calm and direction, Toure acknowledges he is now effectively back-up for the incumbent pairing.
There will be cameos such as his involvement in last weekend’s barnstorming 4-3 win at Motherwell, but the younger duo — signed for a combined sum approaching £5million by Ronny Deila — look in it for the long haul.
‘I will always put them under pressure, because I have more experience,’ said Toure. ‘We work as a team and one of the reasons I am at the club is to help the young players. When I started at the club the manager gave me a job to make things calmer.
‘There was room for the defence to be better but what they are doing now is very good.’
Pitched straight into an all-consuming set of qualifiers for the Champions League, Toure was an obvious target for Rodgers given their shared history at Liverpool.
Handed a one-year deal to help smooth the transition to a new era, there is no guarantee that his stay will be extended into a second season and he will be 36 by the time the contract expires.
Exposed in both the home defeat to Borussia and also for Louis Moult’s two goals for Motherwell last weekend, Toure’s powers have waned since his prime years at Arsenal, but he still feels capable of contributing to the effort at Celtic.
‘I hope to stay but my focus is on this season and trying to do the best I can,’ he said. ‘I want to bring something to the club because when I can bring something I am happy. If I’m not bringing anything... you know the way it is. You move.
‘At the moment everyone is very happy with me and if that can also carry on next season, it is going to be great.’ Depending on what happens with Sviatchenko and Simunovic, there may yet be a case for keeping on Toure as a continuity option as next season’s qualifiers loom into view. Injury kept Simunovic out of the preliminaries last time but he was also on the verge of leaving the club altogether after a deal was negotiated with Italian club Torino. Only after the breakdown of that move did the Croatian prove his worth to Rodgers but, just as he has impressed his current manager, so others will have been alerted to his increasingly commanding displays at the heart of the Celtic defence. Toure understands that both Simunovic and Sviatchenko will inevitably feel tempted to move elsewhere but believes they are in the perfect environment to develop. ‘Right now, I think it is good for them to stay at Celtic, play regularly and experience these Champions League games,’ he said. ‘When you come to England, it is difficult. There is more competition, one or two mistakes and you are out.
‘At Celtic, everything is great and they have time to improve themselves. In the future, you are talking three or four years, they can go. Right now they need to stay where they are.’
Although Tuesday’s game was essentially meaningless, Toure believes Celtic’s ability to stand up to City — as they did in the 3-3 draw in Glasgow earlier in the section — offered proof the team has grown into the European environment.
‘To lose 7-0 to Barcelona in the first game was hard but the reaction has been great,’ he said. ‘We just needed to be more confident. At the start of the campaign we didn’t believe and it was tough.
‘Now, you can see the confidence is there. I think City realised we were a different team from the start of the campaign. Everyone wanted the ball. There have been mistakes and we can improve next season.’
Focus is now exclusively on domestic matters but Toure, part of the Arsenal side that won the English title in 2004 without losing a game, is loath to make similar predictions of Rodgers’ team.
‘You saw at Motherwell that we can’t lose our concentration,’ he said. ‘We thought that might be an easy game but every team plays at 200 per cent against us, so the league is tough.
‘Maybe in two or three months, if we are still doing very well, then maybe we talk about Invincibles but right now it is too early.’
At this advanced stage in his career, Toure is happy to live in the moment.
I have been very impressed by Jozo. He and Erik are doing a very good job