Celtic player goes from ‘lazy No 10’ to undroppable defender

Sometimes you just need an opportunity. When you are at a big club like Celtic, you can very easily find yourself near the bottom of the depth chart, searching for that chance to show your talent. Fortunately, for one player, it came this season due to a series of injury problems that had Brendan Rodgers searching for solutions.

Now, having made consistent starts for Celtic across multiple competitions Liam Scales finds himself cemented in the first-team conversation at Parkhead. And following a momentous display against Lazio in the Champions League, and a number of impressive performances in the league, he is showing he truly belongs.

It has been quite the journey for Scales to reach this point. After playing and starring for University College Dublin, Shamrock Rovers came calling, and it was there he got his big breakthrough. Following a successful run in Ireland, Celtic signed him.

When you move from Shamrock Rovers to Celtic, there’s always going to be an adjustment period. The step-up in quality is significant and the speed of the game increases quite a bit too. Some players start to doubt their own ability when they find themselves out of the starting XI, but that was not the case with Scales.

Celtic player goes from ‘lazy No 10’ to undroppable defender

Scales’ longtime friend Daire O’Connor, who previously played for Ayr United, said to The Scottish Sun:

"“At Celtic in his first year it was a slog to get in and keep his place. I was living in Glasgow and we’d see each other a couple of times a week.“He was adamant if he could get a season out on loan and play every week he’d back himself.“Liam’s probably one of the biggest U-turns in modern Celtic history. I remembered reading tweets before the Old Firm game, and the fans were petrified he was playing. Afterwards they were calling him Maldini!“He probably wasn’t in the plans before injuries, and he could have left again to get minutes.“But he said if there was an injury crisis he would take his chance. Liam learned from last year being on loan at Aberdeen, and centre-back is more of his natural position.”"

That was not always the case though. O’Connor said:

"“Liam was always laid-back. As far as I was concerned he was a lazy No 10, he was never a centre-back or left-back. He was very technical when we’d play midfield for the school.”"

It has been a journey filled with twists and turns, but Scales is an undroppable now in the eyes of his longtime friend, as O’Connor added:

"“He’s an Irish guy from County Wicklow, and Celtic is the pinnacle of where he wanted to be. It’s taken him two-and-a-half years and he’s finally done it. He’s in the undroppable category for me right now.”"

Scales moved to Aberdeen on loan for the 2022-23 season and the club’s manager back then, Jim Goodwin, had confirmed that the team spoke to Celtic about a potential permanent move. But the Scottish champions were unwilling to let him go.

Fortunately for Celtic, that decision proved to be a good one with Scales having an impressive season for the Dons before moving back to Parkhead. And now, he is a nailed-on starter in Rodgers’ side.