Greg Taylor used to being Celtic fall guy when inevitable transfer talk rolls around as he blocks out crisis talk

The left back has long been the name on fans' lips when it comes to where the Premiership champions might improve their team.

He'd need the skin of a rhinoceros if it didn’t bother him a little bit. Not after all of this time.

Whenever the transfer market opens up for business, Greg Taylor is aware of the same question being asked. And the same answer being given. “Where should Celtic look to strengthen? Well, they could probably do with looking at a left-back.” And yet here he is, after four-and-a-half years, with more than 100 appearances for the club under his belt and all manner of medals on the mantelpiece.

If his is a position in need of an upgrade this January then it certainly didn’t look like it on Tuesday night as a rampaging Taylor smashed home the volley which sealed a 3-0 romp at St Mirren – and kept Celtic’s eight-point lead secure. So it’s no wonder his patience wobbled a little bit afterwards when it was put to him that his manager might be sniffing around in the sales, looking for his replacement.

“It’s always been the case, hasn’t it?” was how Taylor replied with just the hint of a bristle before adding, “It’s been the same in every transfer window since I signed here. It’s part of being at a big club.

“There will always be challenges and people breathing down your neck that want to take your jersey. Never rest on what you’ve done previously and always try to listen to the coaches and the manager. That normally stands you in good stead.”

It has certainly worked for Taylor. That attitude and work ethic was what earned him the move from Kilmarnock in the first place. It’s why he was shoehorned into the starting line-up after Kieran Tierney left for Arsenal.

It’s why Ange Postecoglou made him an inverted mainstay, even despite shelling out almost £4million on Alexandro Bernabei. And it’s why a manager of Rodgers’ calibre continues to keep him in Celtic’s line-up.

Week after week, Taylor makes himself a first pick. He went on: “Berna is a top player. He has trained ever so well in this period.

“I’ve touched on this before, the boys who aren’t playing as consistently as myself and others are so key to whatever success we get. These guys train every day like it’s their last session. That’s the only way you have success as a group. It’s just about trying to keep performance levels in training high for all of us and the manager will pick the team.”

In other words, Taylor must be doing something right each day at Lennoxtown. And the 26-year-old’s influence extends way beyond the pitch. Taylor has also emerged over all this time as one of the key pillars inside Celtic’s dressing room.

There has been a need recently for some straight talking and home truths following the December drop off which allowed Rangers to creep onto the shoulders of the champions. And Taylor played his part in that too. He said: “Yeah, definitely. I say my piece. I’m sure I do a lot of the boys’ nuts in but that’s just because I care so much.

“I only ever give my opinions from a position of wanting us to do well. There was a lot of talk about a crisis but you try to block it out as much as you can.

“There has been a bit of criticism but that can come especially when you lose two games at this club. It’s not good enough. We understood at that point that we really had to finish the four games that we had strongly – and we did.”

Four straight wins – including a victory on Old Firm day – have steadied the ship. And Taylor realised the importance of backing that result up with another three points in Paisley to go into the shutdown from a position of strength.

He said: “We’ve finished the last few games well. Certainly, we had the blip with a couple of defeats but in the four games since then we have been strong. We’ve been pretty dominant in all four so it has been a nice end before this break.

“Tuesday’s win was not a statement as such. It was just another dominant performance. It was important off the back of a big game against Rangers to show that we can do it again.

“We know that when we are at it – making the runs and pressing well – we’re a very difficult team to stop. It was about us on Tuesday. I thought we had the right mentality going into the game.

“Of course, there have been blips along the way. The two defeats in the league was a really disappointing stage for us.

“Probably over the piece, there hasn’t been that real consistency that we wanted until these last four games. But I think we’ve found that now.

“We’ve missed a lot of key players as well and hopefully we’ll have them back after the break and be ready to push on.”

Now, though, comes the chance to rest the legs – and the rhino skin – before the season restarts at the end of the month. Taylor smiled and said: “I’m looking forward to it. We’ve been playing three games a week for a consistent run now with a lot of difficult matches. So it’s about recharging the batteries.

“But we know once we come back that there’s a lot of business left in the season we’ll need to take care of. It’s about enjoying a few days then getting the head prepared for coming back. It has been a lot but I’m not going to sit here and complain about getting minutes.

“I love playing. That will never change. I want to win and I want to play. I want to be out there helping the team.

“I’ve loved every minute of playing as much as I have and I hope that continues in the second part of the season.”

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