Matt O’Riley Unfazed By The Nonsense Linking Him With A Move Away From Celtic.

Another day and another set of stories linking a member of this Celtic team with a move either in this window or in January.

This time it’s Matt O’Riley, who as we all know signed in January. Even if he were not half the player he is, no club is letting a January signing who has fitted well into the squad leave in September. It is ridiculous.

The media knows this. Other clubs know it. English clubs might have made “enquiries” but that’s all they were because anyone who went to his chairman and said “We can get Matt O’Riley for £20 million” when he was available for less than £2 million just eight months ago would be laughed out the room. No-one wants that kind of embarrassment.

O’Riley was right under their noses. When you see the obscene fees that even middling players down there go for this looks like what it always was; daylight robbery. You could see that from his debut.

This is a special player, and we’re lucky to have him.

Quite how English clubs missed him is another question again.

But we’ve capitalised on the fact that they did, and now that he’s at Parkhead and on a long-term deal it will take a mountain of money to get us to do business of any kind … and it won’t be this year.

So all of this really is just daft talk, the kind that can be easily ignored. The media is making a big thing of it because they know we’ve got a team here capable of being the dominant force in Scotland for a long time to come.

The player himself has handled it brilliantly.

Not only is he keeping his feet firmly on the ground, but he’s pledged his future to the club at the same time. He’s aware of the interest but has “no intention” of leaving Celtic … exactly what fans want to hear.

The mood inside our club is excellent. That will always be something the hacks resist aggressively. They can do whatever they like, but this is a grounded Celtic side committed to playing for the boss and for the fans.

If this player leaves at some point it will be entirely on terms that we set.