Why Kasper Schmeichel loved Green Brigade’s ‘Last Christmas’ chant

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The Celtic Star

·17 gennaio 2025

Why Kasper Schmeichel loved Green Brigade’s ‘Last Christmas’ chant

Got an invitation to attend the two media conferences at Lennoxtown today with Kasper Schmeichel and Brendan Rodgers, so headed across to join the hacks and put some questions to our goalkeeper and manager.

Kasper Schmeichel at the Celtic media conference at Lennoxtown on Friday 17 January 2024, ahead of the Scottish Cup fourth round tie between Celtic and Kilmarnock at Celtic Park. Photo The Celtic Star

Here’s what was said at Kasper’s media conference this afternoon…

Q: Kasper, how excited are you to start this competition?

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Kasper Schmeichel: “I am very excited, yes. It’s a great opportunity, another competition that we’re looking to go far in. Yes, excited to get going.”

Kasper Scheichel and Callum McGregor ahead of kick-off. Dens Park, Dundee v Celtic. 14th January 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Q: “Is that what you were talking about in the changing rooms? You’ve already got one competition in the bag, you’re leading the league by a comfortable distance, and now focus on this one as well?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Yes, I think our way of thinking all season has been next game. Next game is a cup game, so we put everything that we have into that, and that goes for the same in any competition that we’re playing in. So, yes, I think when you play at a club like this, then you’re going to try and win everything that you can win, so this is a competition that we need to do well in.”

Q: You say it’s game after game, have you found this almost festive pile-up of fixtures every three days over the last six weeks or so?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I love it, it’s what we play football for. Don’t play football to train, play to play games, and be involved in these kind of competitions, and constantly testing yourselves, constantly testing what our capabilities are, how well we can recover and go again, like you say, every three days. That’s the challenge, and it’s a challenge I look forward to, a challenge I like.”

Kasper Schmeichel was Man of the Match. Photo Vagelis Georgariou for The Celtic Star

Q: You’re not one of the keepers who might say, well, it’s the cup, I don’t mind resting for the league or the Champions League, do you want to play every game?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I think my mindset has always been, like I said, to be in football to play. I’m not the type of guy who’s going to ask for a rest. I think if I do that, then they’ll know there’s something seriously wrong. But, no, like I say, I love playing games, it’s what I live for, it’s the joy, the excitement, and being part of big occasions, and any opportunity you get to play in a full Celtic part, you’ve got to take.”

Q: The defence has been in a bit of a spotlight. I think Brendan referred to it as going a bit soft as well after the Dundee match. What’s your thoughts on that at the moment?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I wouldn’t say we’ve been bad defensively in any way. I think you go through any period in any season, you’re never going to have it your own way all the time. I think we’ve been brilliant defensively all season. I think we look and analyse when we do our debriefs of games what we can do better, and there’s always stuff we can do better, but I think overall defensively we’ve been excellent this season.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers with Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichelafter the match. Celtic v Heart of Midlothian, Premiership, Football, Celtic Park, 14 September 2024. Photo Robert Perry/ Shutterstock

Q: Do you think sometimes there’s more made of it than there has to be?

Kasper Schmeichel: “There’s been so many clean sheets in that. I think I’m lucky that I now have the experience and the know-how to be able to not read or see anything that’s said about us. I think what’s important is what we do with our debriefs in this room, so what’s said in this room. To me, that’s what matters. Like I said, any debrief we have, any goal we ever concede, we’ll analyse that and we’ll look what we can do better and always looking to strive, always looking to improve, but like I said, I think defensively this season we’ve been excellent.”

Alistair Johnston with Kasper Schmeichel. Photo Vagelis Georgariou for The Celtic Star

Q: Can you also use your own experience of your entire career at this point when there may be outside noise or there may be a bit of pressure to just calm everyone down a wee bit?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Again, I don’t read the Noise or anything like that. I think pressure is a privilege. That’s something that you’ve got to relish, you’ve got to love when you play for a club like this. You’ve got to love that pressure. That’s one of the big reasons I wanted to come to a club like this, is to have that pressure that every game you have to be perfect. But like I said, you’re never going to be perfect, but that’s what we have to strive for.

“I think you look at any season, any team across the world who has a successful season, will always go through small periods, small bumps here and there where you don’t quite hit what you’re wanting to hit, but it’s always about how you react. You look at our game against (the)Rangers, that definitely wasn’t what we wanted, but look at our reaction to that. I think that’s the mark of a good team, is when you do have those minor setbacks or minor blips, it’s how you go and react to that.

Q: Just a word on the Scottish Cup. We saw the final last year, the iconic scenes afterwards, and I think those photos have been shared by many Celtic fans. Is this what this competition can do? They can create memories, create legends at this club, and that’s the footsteps that you guys want to walk in?

Kasper Schmeichel: “For sure. Any cup competition, I’ve been lucky enough to play and win different cup competitions, and I’ve played in different cup competitions around the world. What it offers is something different. It offers the opportunity for lower league teams to play Premier League or Premiership teams, and sometimes there are iconic moments in that. You talked about the final there yourself. I watched that final, and I watched the celebrations. I was taken aback by that, because it was amazing to watch. Definitely those kind of things is what you play football for. You want to play lots of matches, you want to get to those kind of opportunities where you have a chance to write yourself in history books and be a part of moments like that.”

Joe Hart celebrates after Celtic beat theRangers in the 2024 Scottish Cup Final. Photo Vagelis Georgariou for The Celtic Star

Q: You say you watched the final, the last year’s final. Were you aware of Celtic’s interest then?

Kasper Schmeichel: “No, it was because of Joe Hart, mostly. I watched a lot of Celtic because of Joe, particularly. Obviously, having played up here before for Falkirk, I knew about Celtic and everything about it. I played up here in a pre-season game, there were 60,000 people still, so everyone knows about Celtic and the history and the grandeur of this club, but I watched the final because Joe was playing.

Q: When the decision came a month or two later, did you think back to those cup final scenes?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Probably part of it, yes. Like I say, Celtic wasn’t a new concept to me. Having played against them in different settings in the Scottish Premiership, and even in friendly games where you still have an atmosphere like Celtic Park has, to be part of a club like that was definitely appealing.”

Q: You talk about different cup competitions, your type of player maybe looks back at the history of a cup competition before you start into it the first time, and look at Celtic’s wins in the past as well, what it means to the club as well?

Adam Idah scores the winner for Celtic in the 2024 Scottish Cup Final against theRangers at Hampden. Photo Vagelis Georgariou for The Celtic Star

Kasper Schmeichel: “Yes, I think when you think of Celtic, you think of Celtic lifting cups and trophies. That’s part of the history, that’s part of the heritage, that’s part of the pressure of being a Celtic player now. Yes, you have to live up to that, and that’s a really exciting challenge, that’s a great challenge, that’s something that we all have to love, that pressure and the history that dictates the pressure. So, yes, we enjoy that.

Q: Having seen the scenes at the last season’s Scottish Cup without experiencing something like it yourself in the League Cup. Does that kind of drive you on as well?

Kasper Schmeichel: “I think when you reach a certain stage of your career and you’ve only really played in one cup final before the one we had the other week, you realise they’re very few and far between, so you realise how special they are. I think you appreciate them more, you enjoy them more, and if it was possible, probably even more determined. But yes, like I said, it is those kind of occasions that you get into football for, but you do realise that the work to get there is really, really hard, and it starts in the first rounds where you just can’t go lightly, because if you do, then you don’t get those opportunities, so you can never take anything for granted at all, and we’re certainly not going to do that.”

Joe Hartin action for Celtic during the 2024 Scottish Cup Final. Photo Vagelis Georgariou for The Celtic Star

The Celtic Star: Kasper, you mentioned Joe, he had a great relationship with Celtic support, and that’s developing nicely for yourself too. Did you enjoy the ‘Last Christmas’ song from the support?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Yes, again, you get to a certain stage of your career and you realise that those kind of things, that kind of relationship, isn’t just something that happens, that only comes from being part of a team that’s doing well and performing for them, and Joe did that for three years here and quite rightly got the respect and the adulation that he deserves, and that’s definitely something that I strive for, because when you do get that recognition from the fans, that means that you’re doing well. So, yes, I’m doing my best, I’m trying my best to do everything I can to win for this football club, and we go again on Saturday for that.

The Celtic Star: Can we keep our fingers crossed that you might be here for three years?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Well, one thing at a time, one thing at a time. Like I say, I’ve never been the type of guy that’s going to sit here and say, I want to do this, I want to do that. Again, I’m old enough and experienced enough to know that the next game is the most important, so that’s it.”

The Celtic Star: Can I ask if you practised penalties this week?

Kasper Schmeichel: “Well, we haven’t really had a lot of chance to train, because of obviously the proximity of the games, but I’m sure some of the lads have.”

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