Dane Murray

We should give him a few runs, tsking over welsh spot, if we can get another defender in Id be happy with him as backup, along with scales.

Might still be writing off Trusty too soon, but not sure about him, but only had a season.

 

He’s fair getting his chance this preseason. I don’t mind it. It’s always good to see youth players breaking through.

He’s a big big lad, and he looks like he’s fair bulked up. I hope he makes it

 

There will hopefully be several games this season that feel over by 60 minutes. I hope we use these to give Murray some minutes and get him used to the first team. He isnt going to drop straight into the first 11 but no reason why we shouldn't be giving him decent minutes

 

Nope. Champions league or rangers appearances out of no where only

 

Don't think we'll see another CB signed think Rodgers sees dane is good enough to be in the mix with CCV trusty scales and we've got inamura who was playing there in Japan, he's looked pretty good in preseason tbf and at some point youve got to trust the young guys and we all want young academy players to come through to the first team don't we.

If we keep going out and buying guys these young guys are not going to progress to our first team

 

With Murray it’s quite simple, we don’t know if he is good enough but he has looked decent against Sporting, Newcastle and Ajax in preseason. He should at least be taking Welsh’s place in the squad as we categorically know he isn’t good enough.

Both club trained so covers us there, Welsh likely we can sell for £1m- £1.5m this summer and we should do that.

 

"Member when Udinese was allegedly bidding £5mill for Welsh.

I 'member

 

To be fair at the same age Welsh did actually look like he could do a job. Dane Murray at the same age has played 20 games for Queen’s Park, couple of professional games for us and now after a few friendlys I’ve seen him have maybe 3 good games for us.

I’ll wait to see if he’s welsh II first

 

Happy enough with him, but we need another in as well.
We can not be reliant on Scales and Trusty on the left side. Got to bring someone else in of equal or better quality to CCV then Murray can actually partner someone decent when he comes in and can develop. Otherwise he is going to get hung out to dry

 

any of the games i have seen him(missed yesterdays) he looks class reminds me of kennady in terms of potential hope he gets game time this season

 

Dane Murray’s Celtic journey has seen early talent and potential curtailed by two cruel knee injuries. But after making a comeback at Queen’s Park and now winning Brendan Rodgers’ trust, the 22-year-old is ready to seize his moment. Former coach Callum Davidson explains why that could be a big win for Celtic.



The footballing gods could have been kinder to Dane Murray.

The Celtic defender can be forgiven for thinking that he is the club's nearly man. Murray has been dealt a poor hand at critical junctures in his Celtic career so far, just as he was all set to make a major first-team impact.

His footballing journey began when Celtic scouted him as a six-year-old, and a steady progression through their youth academy followed. In June 2019, Murray signed his first professional contract with Celtic and at the tender age of 18, he made his senior debut for the club in a UEFA Champions League tie against Danish side FC Midtjylland in July 2021.

Murray's was making strides and starting to get noticed. He was starting to appear regularly in first team squads and was on the bench for all of Celtic's Europa League group stage matches during Ange Postecoglou's debut season at the helm.

Then a cruel twist of fate robbed Murray of finally making his Celtic breakthrough. A double cruciate ligament injury sidelined him for a year, not once but twice, as he sustained the same injury to the same knee on his return from training.




Both injuries significantly impacted his development and hampered his playing time at Celtic. Murray undertook an extended period of rehabilitation as Celtic nursed him back to health, which culminated in the player being sent to Queen's Park on loan for the first six months of the 2024/25 season.

The young stopper impressed greatly at Championship level, and he quickly established himself as a key figure in Queen's defence. It was indeed a welcome sight to see Murray amass 20 appearances across all competitions, even weighing in with an assist.

Callum Davidson was Murray's Queen's Park manager during his successful spell, and he reckons the player can revive his football career sooner rather than later and even play for Scotland one day.

Having spent half a season up close and personal with Murray, the former St Johnstone boss, who guided the Perth men to a famous League Cup and Scottish Cup double in season 2020/21, doesn't say these things lightly.

Davidson is convinced that Murray's determination and talent will continue to take him places as his journey from a promising academy player, his significant injury struggles, to earning the confidence of the current Celtic manager, paints a picture of a resilient and dedicated footballer with a bright future ahead of him.

The former Scotland defender also admired the fact that Murray came to Queen's Park simply to play football matches and dedicate himself to his craft. Davidson reckons Murray possesses many traits that all add up to him being a top centre-half in the making.




Davidson said: "As a defender, it's probably not Dane Murray's strength and physique that marks him out to be an excellent footballer; it's his ability to read the game.

"He is fantastic in the air. You don't see many young centre-halves who can go and win the ball in the air. His timing is so good. So, that was probably what I saw in him. He was brilliant defending his box. They are all good traits for a defender.

"He has bulked up as well, and that will probably be an ongoing process for him. especially when he realises that in Scottish football, physicality is a big thing.

"For Dane, he was just coming to Queen's Park to play games, which I loved about him. I think for him it was a big thing coming to Queen's Park. He probably could have gone higher up. He was just desperate to play consistent, regular football.

"He is a very humble young man, and he thought he needed to go out on loan and play games. From day one right through to when he left, he was excellent for Queen's Park.

"I think Dane's problems were mainly fitness issues; it was never his ability. When I watched him at Queen's Park, I thought that potentially he should go and kick on from here, and if he stays injury-free, he can go on and play for Scotland. That's how highly I rate Dane.

"Whether he's at Celtic, whether he's somewhere else, I think he has all the attributes to be a very good centre-half. I just hope he stays fit because these kinds of players don't come around that often.

"If he does get a chance to play for Celtic, he can, he can sort of cement his place in the team, and he could become a regular because he deserves it with what he's done in the last couple of years and bouncing back so strongly from his knee injuries.

"Going through that tough spell and then having to build himself up again twice can stand him in good stead. Hopefully, he can kick on and become a big player for both Celtic and Scotland."





The conventional wisdom is that Celtic still need a bona fide centre-back to partner USA international defender Cameron Carter-Vickers at the heart of defence, especially if the Scottish champions are to repeat the exploits of last season at Champions League level.

The latest defender to be linked to the club is Manchester City stopper Jahmai Simpson-Pusey. Celtic have reportedly opened discussions to take the player on loan from Manchester City. English Championship sides and French outfit Strasbourg have also registered interest in the former England U18 international.

However, Rodgers rates Murray highly, very highly, and could keep him as an option to back up Carter-Vickers. The Irishman even admitted that Murray was in contention for a start against Barry Ferguson's Rangers in the 3-2 defeat against their city rivals at Parkhead back in March.

Murray had to be withdrawn at the 11th hour because of what Rodgers described as a 'wee moment with his knee' and his place in the starting lineup was taken by the now-departed Polish defender Maik Nawrocki.

Having tinkered with the likes of £6 million American defender Auston Trusty and Liam Scalesalongside Carter-Vickers during the last campaign, opportunity could be knocking again for Murray.

The 22-year-old has featured prominently and shown up well during Celtic's glut of preseason fixtures. It appears that Rodgers will give Murray his shot at being a first-team squad regular this season.

Davidson believes it is up to Murray to grab his shot should the chance arise.

He said: "Dane is a sort of manager or coach's delight to work with. He just gets on with it. You ask him to do something and he does it. He came into our training ground and fitted in brilliantly with all our lads, so you can't ask for any more than that.

"That's another one of those things, the little traits that he has. He just wants to succeed. He had that little bit of bite about him in training, that wee bit of driving force. Those are the wee traits you see in players and things you are always taking note of and and Dane has them.

"Considering the injury setbacks that Dane has had in his career and where he has come from up until now, it says everything you need to know about him as a professional. That's why I am not surprised to read and hear that Brendan Rodgers likes him and rates him highly.

"The big question now for Dane is, can he force his way into Rodgers' first-team plans? The guys who played there were really good last year. Carter-Vickers is the main man on the team.

"Now, it's just whether Dane can get a partnership going with Carter-Vickers or one of the others. I think centre-halves are all about partnerships. If he gets the opportunity, then he has to take it, as Celtic will have enough games.

"They've got the European ones, they've also got cup games, they've got league games, so they've got enough games there for him to make his mark. It's just whether or not Dane can grab it when it comes along.

"It'd be good to see a young Scottish player coming through the ranks at Celtic. So, hopefully he can do it. It's basically up to him. It's not up to Brendan or anybody. It's up to Dane, and I've got my fingers crossed that he can.

"He's done everything right to give himself a chance. If it doesn't happen, he will have to move on. He's manoeuvred himself into the right position to allow himself to play for Celtic.

"That is a success in itself."

From Celtic's nearly man to becoming a regular for club and country. That has a nice ring to it. If there is any justice, then the footballing gods, for once, should smile on Dane Murray.

Nobody would begrudge him having a fair crack at it.

 

Really hope he gets minutes. Hopefully a breakout season.

 

He won't if we are loaning another teams youth player, we need to create a pathway and we don't do it for our youths, if the guy has any sense he would look to get out and I wouldn't blame him

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Hope he surprises me if he features but I think he lacks the necessary aggression we need.

 

Who currently has that in our CBs? Or elsewhere? CCV maybe in some people's eyes, but I'd not agree.

We've lost so much of that across the team last 5+ seasons. Brown's the only recent player I think you'd even label that.

Definitely would love to see a lot more in our squad.

 

Johnston, Tierney, CCV, Maeda, Bernardo, McGregor, Engels, Scales, Schmeichel, Sinisalo, Idah.

 

- seriously - wow!!! Not one on that list comes close to what I was talking about.

Maybe I'm misremembering though. Plenty of other positives attributes but no aggression.

 

You don't need to go around picking fights or picking up bookings to play with controlled aggression.