“People pulled a few punches on Alex. That’s how it tends to go,” Liam Scales

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The Celtic Star

·11 February 2026

“People pulled a few punches on Alex. That’s how it tends to go,” Liam Scales

Liam Scales was on media duties at Lennoxtown yesterday speaking to the broadcast media as you can watch in the Celtic TV video below and then the written mainstream press with a reminder that the club continues to ban The Celtic Star and other outlets for no reason other than censorship…

7th February 2026 Celtic Park, Scottish Cup , Celtic v Dundee Liam Scales of Celtic challenges for the ball with Callum Jones of Dundee. Photo David Young IMAGO

In his conversation with the written mainstream media Celtic’s Irish international defender gave an insight into the first few days at the club for latest signing Alex Oxlade Chamberlain who is likely to make his Celtic debut this evening in the match against Livingston at Paradise.

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New signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of Celtic is paraded in front of the fans ahead of kick off at Celtic Park. Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup, Fifth Round, Celtic Park, on 07 February 2026. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO/Shutterstock

Scales talked about the standard initiation rituals at Lennoxtown and how the Ox has already impressed his new teammates because of his quality that’s been apparent from the word go. “We don’t do initiation songs, but new players have to run through a tunnel and everyone slaps them! Everyone gets in two lines. They have to run through the middle and you can smack them on the back.

“People pulled a few punches on Alex. That’s how it tends to go and it’s a good laugh. He has settled in really well,” Scales said as reported by Scottish Sun.

“He’s experienced and he’s been in world-class dressing rooms, so he knows how to handle himself. You can see in training that he has incredible technical ability, and that’s why he’s played at the level he has.

“Alex is a really good, intelligent player. You can tell straight away. I’m looking forward to seeing him play as well. He looks very sharp. The quality is always good here and there’s never really any bad players around the club.

“But when you see someone come in who’s played at a really high level for years, you can tell the little differences. They have that elite level and I feel Alex has that.”

Scales has no doubt that Oxlade Chamberlain is going to contribute massively to Celtic’s season with the Scottish Cup and the Scottish Premiership title still up for grabs. Unfortunately the former Arsenal and Liverpool star wasn’t signed in time to play in the Europa League with Celtic having two massive matches against Bundesliga opponents VfB Stuttgart on the horizon.

“He still has a lot to give based on what I’ve seen and how he holds himself,” Scales noted. “Alex comes across as really ambitious and he’s wanting to come in and make a real difference.

“We’re just looking forward to seeing how it goes for him. He’s played in massive matches and he’ll get a taste of what big games are like up here. It’s different and his experience will help us. Alex is the type of player you want to be playing with.

“He’s a really good fit because of that winning mentality too. I’ve always thought he was a brilliant player from his time at Arsenal and Liverpool.”

07.02.2026 Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup 5th round. New Celtic signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is paraded before kick-off. Photo Kenny Ramsay via IMAGO

Martin O’Neill hinted rather strongly yesterday afternoon that there could be a debut for Oxlade Chamberlain, whether that’s from the bench or in the starting XI remains to be seen. We’ll find out around 6.30pm this evening and we’ll report on that as soon as the team sheet is published online.