Some observers may have grown weary of Celtic’s dominance in Scottish football.
However, Liam Scales maintains he’ll never tire of collecting silverware with the Hoops. The towering defender is still recovering from a breathless conclusion to the campaign.
The Republic of Ireland international acknowledges the gruelling season has left its mark both mentally and physically. And he won’t be alone in the Parkhead changing room craving a seaside getaway.
Martin O’Neill’s resurgent side secured the title from Hearts with merely three minutes remaining in the most thrilling final-day encounter. They then gave everything at Hampden to seal a remarkable league and Scottish Cup double.
Having been dismissed throughout the year, Scales and his colleagues savoured the festivities in their most challenging season to date. And with only two international friendlies remaining before a deserved rest, Scales is eager to recharge beside the pool, reports the Daily Record.
He said: “It’s great just to get it over the line and have it finished now, and win the double. It never gets boring. Am I drained? Yeah, I’m shattered. The last 20 minutes of that game, it was hot out there – and I don’t do well in the heat – so I was tired.
“I think it was just the emotions after last weekend. Obviously we had our celebrations and stuff, but it took me three or four days to get any energy back.
“Because of the way the last week went, with the three games in six days and the emotions and everything that was on the line, the recovery from that took me until nearly Friday to feel right again.
“So, definitely tired, but obviously I have two more games with the national team, and then I can relax for a few weeks.”
The 27-year-old has barely had a moment to breathe, let alone fully savour yet another trophy-filled conclusion to the campaign.
Scales will finally get the opportunity to reflect on it all when he swaps his boots for flip-flops during a well-earned summer break. Yet, throughout it all, he never doubted the season would conclude in its now-customary triumphant manner.
He said: “I can’t wait to actually have that moment because it’s hard to take it all in. We’re so happy now and we were so happy last week.
“But it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. I think maybe we don’t realise how big it was to come back from where we were and do what we’ve done.
“I was saying that in the last international window, we had just lost to Dundee United, and a couple of the lads were asking me, ‘What’s going on? Do you think you’ll win it?’
“And I said, ‘Look, if we win all our games, we’ll win the double. It’s in our hands still.’ But to go and actually do that is a different thing, and now that we’ve done it, it’s amazing.
“It’s never easy. I think the last couple of years, it might have come across easier because we were more consistent throughout the season and the league was wrapped up with a few games to go and things like that.
“But yeah, it kind of does give you that kind of kick to realise that it’s never easy, you can’t have blips, you can’t have a month where you’re not in good form or whatever, because everyone wants to be winners and the competition was massive this year.
“We all know. We’ve never forgotten how hard it is, but we all know definitely now that we need to improve again.”
Were it not for Benjamin Nygren’s prolific scoring record, Scales could easily have claimed Celtic’s Player of the Year honours. Previously criticised, the defender thrived under O’Neill’s guidance and delivered consistent performances during a challenging season.
However, the centre-half was quick to acknowledge Callum McGregor’s crucial influence in maintaining squad unity through the campaign’s ups and downs.
Scales remarked: “He’s massive. I’ve never worked with or played with anyone like Cal. He’s incredible. Just his attitude. Obviously on the pitch he’s incredible, he’s a quality player.
“But the way he leads and the way he goes about every moment of every day is an example for players. I think if more of us try and do what he does, we’ll be all right.
“He’s definitely calm. He’s not the loudest. He speaks when he needs to speak, and on match days, he’ll get us all up for the game, obviously, when he does speak.
“But around the place during the week, he’s not the loudest. He’s not on people’s cases, but you know he’s always taking things in, and he’s constantly analysing. I think he understands the game better than any player I think I’ve played with.
“That helps as well. You know, he’s like an extra coach at times as well. He’s irreplaceable, he has such a big role at the club. You could see he was hurting when we were going through bad runs.
“But he never lost hope and he never was negative in that sense. There was always the positivity to get beyond the problems we had, and that in itself was a massive help for us.”
Despite speculation linking McGregor with a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia alongside Brendan Rodgers, Scales believes it’s vital the influential captain remains at the club during what promises to be a transformative summer.
He continued: “He’s incredible, I love playing with him and I want that to last for as long as it can. He’s already been through transitions and showed, you know, with different managers and different styles that he can fit into anything and help us in transitions.
“I think the year I signed here, it was a bit of a transition – Ange’s first year as manager – I didn’t play a massive part, but I could see from then how big a role he played and how important he was to that transition.
“So if it has to happen again, yeah, you want players like Cal. Obviously, Jimmy (Forrest) has been here years, he’s been through the same. You want players like that to be here and to kind of help everyone through that.”
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