Greig Spence may have swapped Celtic’s green and white hoops for the red variety of Hamilton Accies but his priority remains the same- scoring goals.
In three starts on loan to the First Division side he has scored twice but the 19-year-old believes that he can score in every match.
Spence scored in ten games running as Celtic’s u-19 side clinched the 2010 double and marked his return from injury in April with seven goals in five matches as Stevie Frail’s side retained the double.
After his debut goal for Hamilton against Morton Accies boss Billy Reid said: “He’s exactly what I wanted to bring to the club- a penalty-box player with a bit of quality.”
The penalty box is Spence’s workplace with Dundee this afternoon the target as Accies chase promotion back to the SPL.
“As a striker I like to try and score in every game,” he stated. “Every time I go out that’s the target and I believe I can manage it.
“With Celtic at the end of last season I was scoring in most games. I’d like to score in 90% of the games this season and hopefully get more than one in some matches. I’d like to get about 12 goals by Christmas.
“Some people feel pressure when you’re playing in front of a crowd but I just try to focus on the game, block everything else out, and if the ball comes into the box I’m looking to get on the end of it.
“Our training is all about working on sharpness and trying to get in the team on the Saturday. Everyone is fighting for their position, to stay in the team or get into the team, there’s 20 guys working their socks off to get in the side. It’s really competitive and there’s a good feel about the club.
“We’ve dropped a few points in the last few games but there’s real quality in the squad and we’re striving to win the league. I genuinely believe that we will be up there challenging.”
Spence missed most of last season because of a knee injury then found the season coming to a halt just as he was reaching full fitness.
At any level footballers hate injuries but when you’re just starting out in the game any time on the sidelines can seem like an eternity.
“I wanted to keep training over the summer but you do need to take a rest,” he admitted. “I only started playing again in April so the break effected my fitness and that was frustrating.
“In pre-season training I took a knock from Emilio Izaguirre. My knee was sore for a day or so and I wondered if I was going to be out again but I ran it off after two days. It was good to take that knock and it showed that everything had cleared up.
“Coming on loan to Hamilton is a great move for me, it’s a chance to play regularly at a good level and show people what I can do
“The coaches at Celtic are second to none and the training is great but I missed a lot of last season through injury. It was vital to get games and that was the big factor in coming to Hamilton.”
Like many young players Spence is a twitter devotee with over 1,500 hanging on his every update.
There’s not much tactical analysis on his twitter posts as he deliberately steers clear of the subjects that have landed various players into bother.
“I only use twitter for a laugh,” he explained. “I try to stay away from discussing football, I like to put stupid stuff on and keep things light hearted.”
One recent tweet to former Celt Michael Ordish read: ” @mikeyordish aye same buddy! A would say we could arrange something but tbh a don’t really want to!!”
Spence added: “If you keep things simple twitter is great. A lot of the players from Celtic are on it and they let you know how they are getting on. If you’ve got a genuine interest in someone it’s great to find out exactly how they are doing.
“I get a lot of encouragement on twitter, if you use it sensibly and try not to get caught up in controversies it’s harmless. I can see how some people don’t like it but you keep certain things to yourself.
“I don’t think that I’ll ever be another Joey Barton, he’s a one off, but twitter is good fun and most players use it for keeping in touch.”
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Why do Celtic never really utilise their youngsters. Of course there’s a few exceptions like Maloney, McGeady and currently Forrest but not nearly enough considerin we dominate reserves and under 19’s. I’m all for bringing younsters to Celtic but surely we can channel more of our own since they’ve played together for so long and are more than familiar with Celtics system and surroundings. Including this guy Spence and of course James Keating it begs the question really why Celtic would be looking at Scott Allan of DDutd and the signing of Bangura considering he’s still very young and was maybe even playing in a poorer league (if thats possible).
Also why we think Rogne would be the answer while bypassing our own 19 year old defenders including the decision to bring in El Kaddouri on loan instead of using one of our own baffles me.
Celtic should be lookin to introduce 2 n 3 younysters at a time at Parkhead while up 3, 4 nil with 20 mins to go because trying to bleed 1 at a time just isn’t the way IMO.
Which brings me to my last point. You’s will probably remember Celtics visit to St. Mirren last month which the hoops won 2 nil. Got the goals early and 3 pts, job done right? Wrong! The man of the match for St. Mirren was a lad called Paul McGowan, remember him? Yes a former Celtic player that came through the ranks and looked the part, never really got his Celtic career off and running because lets face he never really got the chance or the backing from the management and then he’s given away on a free. FREE? whats the point in that. He was the liveliest player that day and looked like a young Maloney with his dynamic passing and Celtic can’t even get 100 Grand for him. You can rst assured that if he had the same performance and Lennon found out he was a Celtic man we would sign him in the next window for a cool Mill. Shay Given springs to mind but surely if we’ve to stand a chance of properly competing in Europe again it must come from the roots like the “Lions of 67”.
HH 1NL YNWA 😀
I agree James mate. I don’t think we give our youngsters an opportunity. Rangers have brought through more than us yet our u-19’s are beating them easily. Spence should have been play for us on Wednesday night against Ross County. So many lads gone without a real chance, Caddis, Ferry, McGowan, Carey etc.
Some of these lads might play better in front of a big crowd.