Ex-Celtic man makes ‘uncomfortable’ admission as he hails transfer strategy and lands Rangers dig

Schmeichel, 39, brought down the curtain on his hugely successful career after two years with Celtic last season, but was a regular in the Celtic starting XI that diced with death throughout the campaign before a shoulder injury ended his campaign - and his career - prematurely in February.

Featuring in 39 games across all competitions in the 2025/26 season, the Danish stopper had a front-row seat to how the outside chaos affected his teammates, with the Champions League qualifying exit to Kairat Almaty, a severe board-versus-fan civil war and constant changing of managers threatening to knock them off their perch, before veteran boss Martin O'Neill galvanised them and secured a domestic double.

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“That's the thing, as a player, you have to not get carried away in that [negative] emotion,“ Schmeichel told TNT Sports. “Last year, there was a lot of things going on off the field. As a player, it was really uncomfortable, you really struggled with it. But you had a massive emotion winning the league in the 98th minute, so you have to be able to carry that over.

Speaking after the club’s thumping 3-0 win over LASK in the Champions League qualifiers, the ex-Hoops number one believes that the club has truly turned a corner after a difficult last 12 months. Summer signing Camilo Duran took the headlines with a stunning brace in the victory at Parkhead, as he and fellow new arrival Kasper Hogh continue to impress both in Europe and domestically.

After losing key men Arne Engels and Daizen Maeda this summer, Schmeichel believes that the club deserve huge praise for their ability to consistently find new heroes season upon season, and the unity they have shown in the face of adversity.

“A club like Celtic is in an unfortunate position that when they have good players people will be looking at them, and you are going to lose them,” said Schmeichel. “But what they've always is done is they've kept on going, they've continued. They've had to find new players, they've had to be creative - and that's what this club is all about. The most important thing is this place [Celtic Park]. It's the unity.

“They've come in this year, they've not had any issues off the pitch. It's been nice and quiet, they've done their business. They've gone into the season really well, had some good performances. It always helps that the team down the road [Rangers] aren't doing too well. That's all a part of the experience of being a player at Celtic Football Club. They're in a really good place, but the next game is massive now. If they score the first goal, they kill the tie. If they concede first, it could be a really tough one.