Viljami Sinisalo

Couple of good saves but most impressive thing about him is his ability with the ball at his feet and having the confidence to dictate where players are to receive the ball.

Can't just go back to sitting on bench for 6 months again next season. Needs the cup games at the very least

 

How did you feel about Sinisalo today

Well, I thought Vil was excellent. You're always looking for maybe keepers with temperament, especially a young keeper and I thought his temperament was really good today.

He didn't look nervous, dealt well with anything he had to and yeah, I've been really pleased with Vil. We knew he was a really good young keeper. Indirectly, this has given him a chance to get some games and show that he has the authority to play for Celtic, and he's definitely done that.

 

Pulled off a super save from tavpen, thought it had just hit his body but had got to it with his hand.

 

Doing quite well, although I feel like we're still to properly see him.

Although he's played maybe 7 games or whatever it is now, he's not faced a great deal of threat so far. Probably need to see him in the CL to really know if he can step up to the pressure and where he might have 6/7 shots in a game.

 

Sinisalo was excellent on his Ibrox debut. He made some tremendous saves, and looked calm and assured in goal throughout.

Very athletic and agile, and I think his kicking out is better than Schemeichel. He doesn't eff about at the back either, just boots it clear.

He played a big part in us getting that valuable point today, at a hostile away ground.

 

His performance was such a contrast to Schmeicel in the last Rangers game. His confidence helped his team mates rather than feeding anxiety like the last game.

 

I thought he's looked absolutely fine every game I've seen him in. Could end up a really smart piece of business bringing him in to learn from Schmeichel for a couple of seasons then replacing him when the time comes. Doesn't look out of place in our team at all so far.

 

Thought he was really poor for their disallowed goal but very good overall..

 

In terms of succession planning in the Celtic goalkeeping department, the club is in good hands - literally.


When Joe Hart left Celtic last summer, Brendan Rodgers dipped into his vast book of contacts and signed two accomplished shot-stoppers in the shape of Kasper Schmeichel and Viljami Sinisalo.

The Finnish No. 1 has been a virtual spectator all season - save a 5-0 Scottish Cup win over Raith Rovers in February - until the football fates decided to step in. A shoulder injury to the 38-year-old Dane whilst on international duty with Denmark in March threw Sinisalo an unlikely Celtic career bone. The 23-year-old has since stepped up to the plate and then some.

Sinisalo has kept four clean sheets in the last six Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup appearances for Celtic. He also looked cool, calm and composed throughout Sunday's Glasgow derby debut at Ibrox, where he was even singled out for fulsome praise by Rodgers. The Irishman said, "Well, I thought Viljami was excellent.

"You're always looking for maybe keepers with temperament, especially a young keeper, and I thought his temperament was really good today. He didn't look nervous, dealt well with anything he had to and yeah, I've been really pleased with Vil. We knew he was a really good young keeper.

"Indirectly, this has given him a chance to get some games and show that he has the authority to play for Celtic, and he's done that

Reading between the lines, the £1 million summer snip from English Premier League side Aston Villa is looking every inch the shrewd bargain. He is the heir apparent to Schmeichel's throne, and at this stage of his development in Glasgow, he has shown that he has learned at the hands and feet of his goalkeeping idol.

Sinisalo sailed through his Glasgow derby baptism of fire at Ibrox so much so that he was disappointed not to come off on the end of a victory after the two teams shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw during the last league clash of the campaign.

In terms of auditioning to be the undisputed Celtic No.1 in the future, the gloves are off. Sinisalo is already laying down the gauntlet to Schmeichel and giving Rodgers the kind of selection headache that every manager dreams of. Sinisalo said: "It is pleasing to hear the manager say nice things about me. The manager's got a whole lot of experience in football, done great things in football, done great things here.

"To hear someone pay me such compliments is great, obviously, but listen, I want to get better. Every game is an opportunity to get better, and I'm very much driven in that and trying to be the best I can.

"So, whether that's playing here or playing next weekend or the games that I've played, I want to just try and showcase my ability to the people that probably haven't seen me as much."

Whilst Sinisalo loved his first taste and experience of the derby encounter, he was left disappointed that the champions did not leave the home of their rivals with all three points.

With a goalkeeping coach, Stevie Woods and Kasper Schmeichel on hand to offer all sorts of advice on how to handle the occasion, Sinisalo insists that he was well drilled on what to expect. It certainly lived up to the hype as a spectacle. He said: "I enjoyed it. It's a shame we couldn't get the result we wanted, but obviously, we wanted to come here and win.

"We had that chance late on to go and nick it, but sometimes football goes that way, and you end up with a draw. I loved it. Every footballer wants to play in these games, so I enjoyed every minute of it.

"Listen, as a Celtic keeper, you want to play well every single game. Different games require different things. Games like this (Rangers), you've got to be calm and be able to make saves when they come. There are different games where you've got to be really clean with your passing, and there might not be as many saves.

"Every game is a bit different. I'm just trying to do my best to show that I can do the different sides of that. Hopefully, I can keep doing that for the foreseeable future. There are enough players and staff who have been here a long time. Over the week, I've spoken to them about what to expect and stuff like that. It's not new to me. I've been watching these games previously.


You're here and you want to be part of it. You want to play in these games. Every footballer wants to play in the biggest games there are. This is one of them that you know, even if you're playing for a different club, you're watching this game. I loved every minute of it.

"I really enjoyed the away fans being back in. I thought the atmosphere was good. I enjoyed it. The only thing is getting those three points, but that's football. It's one of them. We wanted to come here and win. We are gutted we didn't do that in the end. I thought we could have. I thought it was a decent second half, and created chances and openings. These games are always tight. You get half chances.

"You're not going to carve teams open as much as you probably do on other weekends. I enjoyed it, and hopefully I can play many more of these games during my time at the club.

"Both Stevie and Kasper told me kind of what to expect, coming here to play. I'm not going to say exactly what, but kind of what to expect from the people here, the crowd and kind of about staying calm, whatever happens, whether there's an early goal in the game, whether we score early. It was stuff like that which you get from people who have experienced the game before.



However, Sinisalo admitted that he did have one heart-stopping moment when Rangers defender Leon Balogun thumped a header off the top of the crossbar inside 60 seconds that would have gotten the champions off to another disastrous start. He readily admits that Celtic, at times, struggled to cope with their city rivals' deliveries into the box, Sinisalo said: "I want to say I had that (Balogun's header) covered, but no, I didn't!

"It wouldn't have been the greatest start to the game. Set-piece defending, we knew that was a big strength of theirs, with the delivery coming into the box. We worked on it a lot, and they were dangerous. That's what they've got. They are dangerous from set plays. There were certain times today that we struggled a little bit in terms of defending them, but mainly, I thought we'd done okay.

"It was good that the header didn't go in early because it's a different ball game if someone scores 50 seconds in."

Sinisalo is well aware that Schmeichel could return to his rightful place between the sticks ahead of the end-of-season showpiece and * the jersey from his grasp as Celtic chase a record ninth domestic treble.

The $64,000 question now is who does Rodgers select for the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen at Hampden on May 24th? Sinisalo said: "That's a tough question. Kasper's been brilliant for us for the whole season, he's been amazing. Up there, definitely, with one of the players of the season.

"What he brings to the squad, what he brings to the change room, you can't replace that. He's a big voice, he's a leader. Listen, Kasper's had an unbelievable career, he's done well for us. If I stay in the team, if Kasper gets in the team, that's the manager's decision.

"I'm just trying to prove that I can play for this football club every day in training and when the chances come (i.e. today and the games after), I've just got to focus on the next game, whenever that is, and try and do my best. "

 

One thing people dont talk about much with Kasper is how often he creates counter attacks with long throws/goalkicks. This is something this guy needs as well.

 

I really like him…massive potential a really good performance at ibrokes.

 

He was the biggest positive from yesterday. So far he looks a quality signing and I’d be happy with him as our number one.