GREIG ROBERTSON spent a fascinating 18 years at the Celtic Academy between 2003 – 2021, working in close quarters with a number of highly regarded club coaches such as Tommy Burns, Brendan Rodgers and John Kennedy.
In nearly two decades within the Academy he played a part in the development of some of Celtic’s best known graduates such as Kieran Tierney, James Forrest and current club captain Callum McGregor, and more recently has guided the progress of the latest batch of exciting talent to emerge from Lennoxtown, including Ben Doak, Dane Murray and of course Karamoko Dembele.
You don’t spend that amount of time with elite level players if you yourself aren’t an elite level coach and during his time at Celtic Grieg gained his UEFA Pro Licence as well as a Masters in Performance Coaching.
His talents have now taken him to the role of Director of Coaching at Boston Bolts in the US, where he kindly gave up over an hour of his time to discuss his Celtic journey with The Celtic Exchange.
It’s an entertaining, enjoyable and insightful discussion on what goes on behind the scenes at Lennoxtown and on what it really takes to make it as a young footballer at Celtic.
This is a must listen for fans of Celtic, and for sports fans in general. Enjoy!
0:00 Introduction – Ex Celtic Academy Coach Greig Robertson
1:36 Greig’s Coaching Journey
4:33 The Influence of Celtic Hero Tommy Burns
7:21 The Human Element of Football Coaching
9:23 Learning From Brendan Rodgers, John Kennedy & Ronny Deila
17:16 What Was Different About Callum McGregor, James Forrest & Kieran Tierney
20:44 The Traits You Need To Make It As A Young Footballer
23:41 Performance Coaching – Relative Age Study
25:58 Coaching Karamoke Dembele – Can He Make It At Celtic?
33:33 The Talent of (Now Liverpool) Youngster Ben Doak
38:43 Celtic’s Player Pathway & The Tobi Oluwayemi Example
45:04 Mental Performance in Football – The Psychological Side Of The Game
56:27 Celtic Academy Targets To Look Out For
1:03:12 Can Dane Murray Be A Future Celtic Centre Half?
1:06:56 The Undoubted Talent of Mikey Johnston – Opportunities Under Ange Postecoglou
1:12:09 The Surprising Re-Emergence of Tony Ralston
1:16:44 The Huge Impact of The Celtic Academy on The First Team (McGregor, Forrest, Ralston, Welsh, Johnston & Others)
1:20:29 What Can Be Done To Bring Through More Talented Youngsters in Scottish Football
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