Cameron Carter-Vickers has told Celtic’s matchday programme he had never felt pressure like the levels felt since joining in a season-long loan transfer from Tottenham Hotspur.
Ange Postecoglou added the centre-half to his Parkhead ranks during the final stages of the summer window last year. Carter-Vickers has since been a mainstay of the Bhoys’ backline, making 31 appearances across all competitions while scoring twice and assisting one goal.
The 24-year-old’s efforts over his 21 Premiership outings to date has also helped the Hoops keep the best defensive record. Celtic have conceded a league-low 15 goals over their 26 fixtures to date, six fewer than second-place Rangers ahead of hosting Dundee on Sunday.
But Carter-Vickers has not been faultless and came in for criticism following Celtic’s Europa Conference League defeat to Bodo/Glimt. James McFadden questioned his role in allowing Hugo Vetlesen to score the Norwegian outfit’s third by failing to close the midfielder down.
Postecoglou, though, has loved having Carter-Vickers at Celtic and sought to bring forward a permanent transfer from Tottenham in January. But Sky Sports reported Spurs refused to lower their already agreed £6m option during discussions over the structure of payments.
Carter-Vickers admits he’d never felt pressure ‘nowhere near’ like at Celtic
Celtic will likely examine Carter-Vickers’ permanent transfer from Tottenham again at the end of the season. His first six-months at Parkhead have still been a learning curve for the United States international, having primarily played Championship football previously.
“Coming to Celtic, the biggest thing I’ve found is that every game is a must-win,” Carter-Vickers said. “If I compare it to the Championship, where I’ve spent most of my time, you have to be consistent to achieve things, but nowhere near as consistent as you do up here.
“The margin for error is very low, and that’s something I’ve had to adjust to and realise [at Celtic]. Now I’ve been here for a while, you get used to that and what’s good is that we have players in the team that have been here for a long time.
“Guys like Callum McGregor and Nir Bitton communicate that pressure to you when you come in [to the club]. But it’s another thing to realise it and come under that pressure.”
Carter-Vickers joined Celtic in a season-long loan transfer having only played five first-team fixtures for Tottenham. He had also never played in the Premier League, compared to 113 Championship appearances during six separate temporary spells away from north London.
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