Everything that Cameron Carter-Vickers told the media following Celtic’s 2-0 loss to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership…
How hard of an afternoon that was for Celtic, playing with ten men?
It was clearly challenging. The fact that we weren’t able to achieve the desired outcome was frustrating. Overall, I believe we should be pleased with the show we put on. Even when we were down to ten guys, we still created a lot of opportunities. Thus, yes, I believe there are many advantages that we may draw from it. It’s quite obvious what we need to do for the remainder of the season, win or lose. We’ll simply concentrate on it.
What did you think of the choices?
The referee witnessed the first one live, so you can argue whether or not it was a red card. With unobstructed vision, he issues a yellow card. So when he goes to the monitor, is that for him to adjust it? That may not be correct, though. Images can appear much worse when they are slowed down, as is common knowledge. Since the referee had a clear view of the situation the first time, I would prefer him to stick with his previous ruling.
Did you think it was a handball against Tomoki Iwata for the Hearts penalty and is it hard for you as a defender to understand the handball rule?
I don’t think a single player on the pitch knew who had handballed it. I think most people on the pitch thought it was Ali, Ali Johnston, handballed it. Obviously, it wasn’t, it was Tomo (Iwata). When you are jumping for the ball, your arms naturally come up. On top of that, there is a lot of pushing and shoving that goes on which can move your body and make it seem like it moves in the direction of the ball when you never meant to do it.
The manager was frustrated at the fact that the referee saw incidents live but they ended up being re-refereed by someone away from the stadium. How frustrating is that for players because you know the speed of the game?
If a referee has seen it the first time around clearly, I don’t understand why there is a need for him to go to a monitor at all. If he hasn’t seen it, if he has only seen it through bodies or if he hasn’t had a good angle, then that is fair enough. But in that scenario, he had a great view of it the first time around and he gave a yellow card. I just don’t understand it. Not just in that case, in any case. Once a referee has seen it clearly, there is no need for him to have a second look in my opinion.
Is it a worry that incidents and decisions like these could cost you or decide the title?
They could do. We can’t let our focus go on to that. We have just got to focus on our own performance. Like I said, even when we went down to 10 men, we created a good few chances. We probably would have liked to have stopped them from scoring a second. That is all we can focus on. As long as we keep improving and getting better we will be alright.
Does this feel like a missed opportunity to go back to the top of the table?
Result-wise, yeah. I wouldn’t say performance-wise. It is always difficult when you go down to 10 men. You are naturally going to lose a bit of control of the game. I thought for large parts we were probably the team that created the better chances. We have just got to have faith that if we keep doing that then we will pick up the results that we want.
With both Rangers and Celtic losing at the weekend unexpectedly does that show you that there will be more twists and turns in the title race?
100 per cent. We have also got to play each other twice. Nothing is done yet. For us it is about focusing on ourselves and what we can control and trying to be the best versions of ourselves that we can.
Aside from the VAR controversy, is it easy to forgive Adam for missing the penalty?
Yeah. He came in and in his second game against Hibs away he scored two big penalties for us. He scored late on against Motherwell and again the other night against Dundee. We have full faith in him as we do in all our players. One penalty miss can happen to anyone.
You are one of the leaders in the dressing and with Callum McGregor out how important is it for you and the senior guys to step up and be leaders? Do you feel a responsibility personally to step up?
Maybe a little bit. I always like to view myself maybe as a leader even though I don’t necessarily use that word. As a group, we manage things and we control things. Obviously, I have my opinion on things. I think I am pretty good at bringing perspective to positive and negative situations. That is how I kind of see my role within the team. Other players have different characters. I think it is a good blend of characters that we have.
Callum is going to be out for a while now. How do you feel you played without Callum? Did the midfield area of the pitch function okay?
I think when we had 11 men we started the game pretty well. Paulo has played quite a bit so he is ready to go, Tomo has been playing really well in the last few games when he has been in and obviously Matty has been one of our best players all season. So, yeah, I think we have got the players to cope.
How was Yang? He looked pretty distraught.
Obviously, you are distraught when you get sent off and it affects the game like that. You are going to be down a little bit. But most of the boys got around him straight away and I think he is feeling alright now.
How is Adam settling in off the park and on it?
Really good. He is a great guy. He is actually quite funny. He makes the boys laugh and is a great character.
Does he feel like a Celtic player already?
Yeah, I mean he is. I know it is a loan, but it is the same as my situation when I joined on loan. Whether players are on loan or have signed permanent, they are part of the team, part of the club. Everyone makes him feel welcome.
