Becoming a first-team regular at Celtic last season and helping the club to complete a Premiership and Scottish Cup double could quite easily have changed Liam Scales. 

But it quickly became obvious to his old friends and family members that he was very much the same old Liam when he returned home to his native Ireland for a well-earned holiday this summer.  “I got my rounds in!” said the centre-half with a grin as he looked ahead to the pre-season friendly against Ayr United at Somerset Park this evening after a training session at Lennoxtown yesterday.  

“It was nice going back and getting a pat on the back. But it was more about seeing family and friends, that was enjoyable. It was pretty much the same when it came to the way my family treated me. That will never change. I like to keep myself to myself and go about my business that way. It was pretty simple. I saw a few mates and kept it low-key. I wasn’t out and about much. Where I’m from, out in the countryside, you don’t see as many people as you would in Dublin.”

Scales is clearly still a good man to have along on a night out despite the success he has enjoyed at Celtic and the public profile he now has. He knows his Republic of Ireland teammate Adam Idah, the Norwich City striker who the Scottish champions tabled an unsuccessful £4 million bid for earlier this week, is the life and soul of the party whenever there is an achievement to celebrate as well. The defender thinks what the 23-year-old - who netted nine goals, including the winner against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final, during his loan spell in Glasgow in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign - offers off the park is just as important as what he contributes on it.

He appreciates that former England internationalist Joe Hart retiring from football has left a massive void in the dressing room and thinks that bringing back an effervescent personality like Idah can help to fill it.  “Joe was amazing,” he said. “That’s exactly the word to use. He was a massive character. He was big in the dressing room, constantly talking, constantly helping people and using his experience. People would feed off that.

“So it’s important for other players to step up and take that role on. Players will do that. I’m more experienced than I was at this stage last season so I will probably be more vocal in that sense. Not to the extent of Joe. He had an unbelievable career and when he spoke everyone listened. But there are certain players around the dressing room who have had another year of experience and we will step up.”

Scales continued: “Adam is full of stories, he’s funny. You can have a laugh with him all the time. He is always in a good mood.  He brought fun to the dressing room. He was good for a night out as well at the end of the year! Others were big on the football leadership, Adam was more happy-go-lucky. He has a craic with everybody. You need people like that. On top of leaders like Joe and Cal [Callum McGregor] you need others who balance it out I suppose.

“We would love to have Adam back. He is a great lad. He is obviously a brilliant player, but to have him in the changing room as well is brilliant. He is a good guy.  He was massive for us and scored massive goals and put in massive performances. It is out of our control, but hopefully it happens.”

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Scales, who made no fewer than 45 appearances for Celtic in all competitions last term, is convinced that Idah can give Brendan Rodgers’ men a cutting edge in attack domestically and in Europe if an agreement can be reached with Norwich on a fee in the coming days.  “He is obviously very different to Kyogo (Furuhashi),” he said.

“Kyogo is a brilliant, amazing player, but Adam has more physicality. Kyogo is better at playing off people’s shoulders and he scores loads of goals doing that. But Adam gives you that different option. If you hit his feet he can hold up the big Scottish defenders that he is playing against. It is a great out if centre-backs or midfielders can play it to him.

"He has creative players playing off him as well. That is a strength that, apart from the goals that he scores, that he brings.”

Scales showed that he possessed many strengths as a player himself last season after taking full advantage of an injury crisis in his position and enjoying an extended run of games.  He understands, though, that he cannot afford to become complacent if he wants to retain his position in the Celtic side and he stressed that he will be trying to up his performance levels and land more medals when competitive action resumes. “It’s a new season, a new start for certain players,” he said.

“There’s obviously going to be ins and outs as well. So the main thing is to end the pre-season on the team sheet for the first game of the season. After that, it’s about replicating the number of games I played, but hopefully playing better, just improving on all aspects and being more successful with the trophies. I want to do better this year than last year. There’s always room for improvement so that’s the aim. 

"The biggest thing I learned was the relentlessness of the season. Including internationals, I played 50 games. That’s an intensity I’ve never experienced before. I had to learn how to cope with that. Last year was good. That’s the plan, just to play as many games as possible. I’m sure I’ve learned a lot in terms of keeping my body right and being able to do that. We’ve got a lot to achieve this year. 

“There are the three domestic trophies and then the Champions League which is obviously a bit different from what we experienced before. We’ll be looking to pick up more results than we did and see how far we can go in that tournament. There is always room for improvement.”