TIME has marched on for Celtic since the last Old Firm Premierleague encounter. For Adam Virgo, however, it has stood still. The £1.5m summer signing from Brighton debuted as a late substitute in their 3-1 defeat at Ibrox in September. More than two months on, coming off the bench for the closing minutes is probably the best he can hope for when Rangers visit their rivals' home on Saturday.
One start and three substitute appearances hardly represents a fruitful opening few months in Scotland for a 22-year-old determined to carve out a niche as a "ball playing, centre-half" in the senior Celtic set-up. There are, though, mitigating circumstances.
"If I hadn't arrived with a knee injury and missed the whole pre-season, I might have been in the team when Paul Telfer signed and had an opportunity to cement a place then," says Virgo, a performer who cites centre-back as his preferred role and right-back and centre-forward as ones he could also fill. "But even though I haven't played many games, but I've come on leaps and bounds as a player. I signed for four years and not three months and being in the squad week in, week out allows me to feel part of things. I have never seen many managers who change winning sides.
"I understand it and if I was playing well each week and was dropped for a new signing for no apparent reason I'd be pretty annoyed."
Celtic's most expensive British signing since the club paid £6m for John Hartson in 2001, Gordon Strachan bought a raw prospect who would obviously require time to settle when purchasing Virgo. Voted Brighton's player of the year last season, for most of that campaign he was deployed as a striker. He scored goals in a role that manager Mark McGhee was forced to hand him through sheer shortage of numbers. Now at Celtic he finds that it is a five-into-two scenario for places both in attack and defence.
"The club is 100 times bigger than Brighton," says a player selected for the Scotland future team last season by dint of his grandparentage. "I am enjoying training, have settled in well in Glasgow with my girlfriend Jodie and it is a good place for us to start a new life."
Virgo admits being "surprised" Celtic forked out such a large sum to acquire him. But he is at pains to stress that the fact they twice upped their bid proves the deal was "not some old pal's act" between former Aberdeen team-mates Strachan and McGhee.
Captivated by the Celtic strip at a young age, Virgo became a 'second team fan' when the club won a double in their centenary season of 1987-88. "It is a weird dream for me to have followed Brighton and played for them and have followed Celtic and now be playing for them."
It is perhaps advantageous for a hulking, somewhat ungainly, 6ft 2in, 13st 6lb performer to know his history. For he knows the compliment intended by McGhee likening him to Roy Aitken. "All the players now call me by Roy's nickname The Bear," he groans.
Had Virgo not possessed the determination that so impressed his former manager, he would not have been able to further his career as he has this year. His father Bob died in January after taking a blow on the head from one of two intruders in his home. Losing his father, however, was only the beginning of a profoundly traumatic period that Virgo essentially continues to live through.
"The funeral wasn't until three months later and before that we had to go through the whole inquest process, assist police with a manslaughter charge and make appeals in the local press to find someone who will probably never be caught," Virgo says. "During that time I did say to myself: why are you still playing football? But my dad was a proud man, the sort who would say, 'don't worry about me and go and do what you have to'. Still, though, it was tough reading things about your dad and your personal life that weren't true, especially when you know that is what people will believe.
"A couple of weeks after it happened, I got sent off against Sunderland because I allowed myself to become frustrated at everything that had been going on. There were so many emotions swirling round my head and yet I had fellow professionals, who I thought would have some understanding, winding me up about what happened.
"Yet, in the reports of that game people wrote that I was 'very immature', and had to 'learn to calm down'. No-one outside of the club seemed to want to cut me any slack. I like keeping myself to myself but was regularly confronted by news stories about my dad that started off 'Albion star Adam Virgo' because the police were keen to use my profile to draw attention to the case."
In attempting to find a grain of good in such shattering events, Virgo maintains that "lots of things that happen off the field make you stronger on it". Dad would surely approve.
One start and three substitute appearances hardly represents a fruitful opening few months in Scotland for a 22-year-old determined to carve out a niche as a "ball playing, centre-half" in the senior Celtic set-up. There are, though, mitigating circumstances.
"If I hadn't arrived with a knee injury and missed the whole pre-season, I might have been in the team when Paul Telfer signed and had an opportunity to cement a place then," says Virgo, a performer who cites centre-back as his preferred role and right-back and centre-forward as ones he could also fill. "But even though I haven't played many games, but I've come on leaps and bounds as a player. I signed for four years and not three months and being in the squad week in, week out allows me to feel part of things. I have never seen many managers who change winning sides.
"I understand it and if I was playing well each week and was dropped for a new signing for no apparent reason I'd be pretty annoyed."
Celtic's most expensive British signing since the club paid £6m for John Hartson in 2001, Gordon Strachan bought a raw prospect who would obviously require time to settle when purchasing Virgo. Voted Brighton's player of the year last season, for most of that campaign he was deployed as a striker. He scored goals in a role that manager Mark McGhee was forced to hand him through sheer shortage of numbers. Now at Celtic he finds that it is a five-into-two scenario for places both in attack and defence.
"The club is 100 times bigger than Brighton," says a player selected for the Scotland future team last season by dint of his grandparentage. "I am enjoying training, have settled in well in Glasgow with my girlfriend Jodie and it is a good place for us to start a new life."
Virgo admits being "surprised" Celtic forked out such a large sum to acquire him. But he is at pains to stress that the fact they twice upped their bid proves the deal was "not some old pal's act" between former Aberdeen team-mates Strachan and McGhee.
Captivated by the Celtic strip at a young age, Virgo became a 'second team fan' when the club won a double in their centenary season of 1987-88. "It is a weird dream for me to have followed Brighton and played for them and have followed Celtic and now be playing for them."
It is perhaps advantageous for a hulking, somewhat ungainly, 6ft 2in, 13st 6lb performer to know his history. For he knows the compliment intended by McGhee likening him to Roy Aitken. "All the players now call me by Roy's nickname The Bear," he groans.
Had Virgo not possessed the determination that so impressed his former manager, he would not have been able to further his career as he has this year. His father Bob died in January after taking a blow on the head from one of two intruders in his home. Losing his father, however, was only the beginning of a profoundly traumatic period that Virgo essentially continues to live through.
"The funeral wasn't until three months later and before that we had to go through the whole inquest process, assist police with a manslaughter charge and make appeals in the local press to find someone who will probably never be caught," Virgo says. "During that time I did say to myself: why are you still playing football? But my dad was a proud man, the sort who would say, 'don't worry about me and go and do what you have to'. Still, though, it was tough reading things about your dad and your personal life that weren't true, especially when you know that is what people will believe.
"A couple of weeks after it happened, I got sent off against Sunderland because I allowed myself to become frustrated at everything that had been going on. There were so many emotions swirling round my head and yet I had fellow professionals, who I thought would have some understanding, winding me up about what happened.
"Yet, in the reports of that game people wrote that I was 'very immature', and had to 'learn to calm down'. No-one outside of the club seemed to want to cut me any slack. I like keeping myself to myself but was regularly confronted by news stories about my dad that started off 'Albion star Adam Virgo' because the police were keen to use my profile to draw attention to the case."
In attempting to find a grain of good in such shattering events, Virgo maintains that "lots of things that happen off the field make you stronger on it". Dad would surely approve.
