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Celtic star Josip Juranovic underwhelmed by Rangers signing coup: 'It's just Aaron Ramsey, it's nothing special'

Josip Juranovic says that Celtic are focusing on their own affairs rather than worrying about who Rangers have signed.
Josip Juranovic says that Celtic are focusing on their own affairs rather than worrying about who Rangers have signed.

PREDICTABLY, and justifiably it could reasonably be argued, Scottish football has been in something of a tizz over the last 48 hours since Rangers were first rumoured to be bringing Welsh international Aaron Ramsey to Ibrox from Juventus.

That they actually managed to pull off such a coup has only intensified that frenzy, in the pubs, on social media and on message boards in any case. In the Celtic dressing room though? Not so much, it would appear.

Much of Celtic’s success since the start of the season has been built upon the ethos that no one man makes the team, and for Josip Juranovic, it is a principle that applies as much to their rivals across the city as it does to his own side.

Ramsey will not be in the Rangers squad this evening for the crunch Old Firm fixture at Celtic Park, but that news was of no concern to Juranovic. After all – in his words – it’s just Aaron Ramsey.

“That’s good for them,” said Juranovic, addressing the signing.

“We have here really quality players and we need to watch ourselves.

“It’s just Ramsey. It’s nothing special. I think if you have say Cristiano Ronaldo in the team and the team is not going well...it’s not just one player who will change the game, you need to play all eleven.

“In our minds, especially in my mind, I want from first minute to the last minute that I win that game. That’s my attitude.

“I think everybody here thinks like that and because of that we are playing for Celtic.”

Juranovic made his Celtic debut in the defeat to Rangers at Ibrox in late August, but he believes that Rangers were fortunate to win that game by a single to nil, even with the Celtic side that day in a state of flux during the early days of the Ange Postecoglou reign, and with Rangers fans filling the entire stadium.

This time, the boot will be on the other foot in that regard, but Juranovic says that it is on the pitch where Rangers will notice the real difference between that game in Govan and now.

“I am quite excited because it will be a stadium full of our fans,” he said.

“It’s a big game and we are looking forward to playing our football. We are always ready.

“You cannot say that we played bad when we played against them in my first game. It was a great game from us because we had four chances, I think they didn’t have one. They scored with a corner kick.

“Then we were only playing maybe two weeks together. Now, it’s a little longer and we know each other. It will be a totally different game.

“I will not say much because we need to watch ourselves. We need to talk between us about them - and that’s it.”

The role Juranovic will be asked to play within the game is still far from certain, with manager Postecoglou floating the possibility yesterday that captain Callum McGregor may yet be available to solve his midfield woes.

Should McGregor not make the starting XI after his facial injury though, and with Nir Bitton missing through suspension, full-back Juranovic may well be pressed back into the role where he started out in his youth career.

He is confident that he would be able to handle the assignment, even if he concedes that McGregor is hugely missed on the field, if not off it.

“I have not played in the middle for a long time,” he said.

“But if our manager says ‘Jura, I want you to play striker’ then it doesn’t matter, because I will do anything that the manager says.

“First, our captain is a great person, then he is a great captain. When I come here he text me before my first training session.

“Then when he’s injured, he is with us in the locker room. He is talking with us, he is helping us.

“And because of that we are a strong team.

“That’s because he is always there and for us that’s helpful.”

The chance to go top of the Premiership table may be a significant step for this Celtic side given the tumultuous nature of their campaign to date, but Juranovic says it will be just that; a single step.

This match won’t ultimately determine the destination of the Premiership title, and perhaps that is why he is so confident that Celtic will handle the pressure of the occasion.

“Yes [we feel pressure], but pressure is when a doctor wants to save some lives,” he said.

“We are only playing football. We have pressure, but not like that. We want to enjoy.

“[For] like 90 minutes I don’t think about anything else, just play football. Because of that I just want that our fans be happy after the game.

“After this game we have so many other games. It is not like it is the last game of the Championship. It will not decide who is first or who is second or who is third.

“We need to play our football from the first minute to the last - and then after that we will see where we will be.”