Sam Johnstone, who learned his trade under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, senses a similar aura around Celtic manager Martin O'Neill. The 33-year-old goalkeeper, who joined the Hoops on a deadline-day loan from Wolves, hopes the move can kick-start his career after sliding down the pecking order at Molineux.
Lessons from Fergie and United greats
Johnstone recalled his time at United: "Sir Alex was really good. Obviously, I was young at the club. To have someone like that around, growing up at a huge club, is obviously a massive, massive thing. Him just walking into a room, we were scared straight away."
He added: "I was a United fan growing up. In the dressing room were people like Scholes, Giggs, Darren Fletcher. The shooting practice was difficult! But again, as a young kid to be around people like that, and train with high level players every day is, again, good grounding for me."
Johnstone also worked with goalkeepers Edwin van der Sar, Ben Foster and David De Gea: "I worked with some really good goalkeepers growing up, which was good for me. To be around people like that daily, it can only rub off on you."
O'Neill's calm welcome
Comparing O'Neill to Ferguson, Johnstone said: "Is there a similar vibe? Yeah, of course. I spoke to the manager the other day. He's just so calm and made me feel welcome from literally the first word we spoke to each other."
The goalkeeper, who kept four clean sheets in four England caps and was part of the Euro 2020 squad, has not been called up for three years. He said: "That would be brilliant to get back into there. It's been a couple of years and playing at such a big club like this and at a high level, hopefully that can come. But first and foremost, my main priority and thoughts are with me and Celtic."
Inspired by Joe Hart's Celtic revival
Johnstone drew inspiration from Joe Hart, who revived his career at Celtic after being frozen out at Spurs. He said: "He didn't tell me he had a 40-foot banner! But I'd seen that anyway, I'd seen that when it happened, which is unbelievable."
He added: "We are different characters, but, I was so excited that, I thought, I'm going to watch Joe's stuff after he told me that he loved it and it would be a great opportunity. A banner? That would be nice!"
Johnstone is determined to compete with current number one Viljami Sinisalo: "I'm only 33 and I'd love to play until I was 43 like Craig Gordon. I always want to play. I don't think I've ever had in my mentality to kind of sit there and accept not playing. You have to fight for your position and then we go from there."
