Scott Bain shut out his former Celtic teammates in Falkirk's 2-0 win on Sunday, then offered them some perspective: he has seen the club in a worse state. The goalkeeper, who collected 13 winners' medals in seven years at Celtic, reminded his old friends that the current slump does not compare to past crises.
Bain's message to former Celtic teammates
Bain spoke to his former teammates after the match and revealed their reaction. "Did they say anything? They did, aye, a few expletives. No, they're obviously disappointed. It's a club that demands a lot of you," he said. "I'm really tight with a lot of those boys and I've spent a lot of my life really with some of them. They're disappointed but the boys that I know have congratulated me in terms of what a performance it was."
He added: "I feel sorry for the boys, it's a difficult place to be when it's not going well. But I've seen them worse, you know what I mean? They've been worse and I was there when they were worse."
Pressure and overreaction at Celtic
Bain acknowledged the intense demands at Celtic, noting the emotional connection fans have with the club. "There's obviously overreaction at times with fans and things like that because it's a very emotional club and it's a club that's rooted deep in people's families and across generations. So they demand a lot of you," he said. "The only way to get through it is to stand up and puff your chest out and keep going, you can't buckle to the fans or the pressure or the results."
He pointed out that Celtic remain top of the Premiership despite dropping five points in their last two games against Dundee United and Falkirk. "They've been fine in the league. Obviously the last two results are a bit damning for them but in terms of the league I don't feel there's been any issues and I think maybe these little issues here have probably been brought on from outside noise and extra pressures on to the players," Bain said. "Obviously they've not performed as well in Europe as Celtic have recently, outwith your Champions League disasters, if I can say that."
Bain's own Celtic experience
Reflecting on his time at Celtic, Bain described the difficulty of being in and out of the team. "Celtic were really unbeatable when I played the majority of my games (under Brendan Rodgers) so I didn't really feel that until I came in with the signing of Vasilis Barkas and I played a game here and there. I always found it difficult in general to play a game, come out of the team and play a game a few months later, play a couple of games here and come out," he said. "And then eventually I played a game once a year – what are you supposed to do with that? It's almost impossible."
He recalled the COVID season as particularly tough. "I never felt the full brunt of it but the COVID season was really tough and that wasn't even with fans in the stadium. I think no fans made it even worse," he said. "But for the majority of my time there it's been sweet, the club was in a really good place and I think it'll maybe take a few signings here and there, a few ideas here and there and they'll be back there, I don't think it'll take much."
Bain's current form and Scotland hopes
Bain is in strong form with Falkirk, who have won four consecutive games and moved up to fourth in the league. Fans chanted for him to be Scotland's number one, and he responded: "Is there a drink in the stadium?! No, the fans have been brilliant with me. I feel like I'm performing really well so it's nice that they sing that."
He added: "I hope that I'm in the next squad, I really enjoyed working with the manager and seeing his ideas and how he works. As long as I go away and put my best foot forward I'm happy to give my best account of myself out there."
