Seven months on and another racket. The clatter of boots through the reception area of Celtic Park. Caldwell goes to dump his gear then leads the way upstairs to the players’ lounge. The first thing that strikes you is his calmness. Some players can bristle when confronted by perceived criticism but the 24-year-old meets questions with an unflinching, yet not unfriendly, gaze. “I think I got the stick because of what I’d done, because I was leaving Hibs, and rightly so. Their fans became aggrieved that another captain was leaving for the Old Firm after Ian Murray; as a supporter you are going to get annoyed and they showed that in their reaction towards me, but I fully understood what I was doing at the time and I wouldn’t change it. It’s something I look back on now and think it has made me a stronger person.”
Caldwell has signed a three-year contract, got married in the summer and moved into his new home last week. After four different loan spells away from Newcastle, he is relishing the chance to put down roots. “I knew what it was like to be at a big club when I was at Newcastle, I knew what it took. I suppose it was quite a good grounding but this is bigger, without a doubt. It’s the goldfish bowl, the whole of Scotland revolves around Celtic and Rangers. When you come here you find that’s all the media are interested in because the majority of supporters want to read about Celtic and Rangers.”
There is something stoic about Caldwell which should serve him well at Celtic Park. Reservations are already in the air. Is he fast enough? Is he commanding enough in the air? Does he try to play too much football? His real answers will come on the pitch but if he can perform as well as he talks, they will be convincing ones.
So to exhibit A for the prosecution, Caldwell overunning possession on his Celtic debut to Kilmarnock’s Steven Naismith, who would have scored but for a double save from Artur Boruc. “Are people still talking about that? That’s football, the decisions I need to make every single week. If it goes wrong, it goes wrong and if it goes right, it goes right. It’s very easy every time it comes to you to kick whatever way you are facing, but I’ve been brought up to pass it. I know more than anyone that you do have to hoof it in the stands at times, and I do that, but more often than not I try and play. I am not going to change the style of play, it’s choosing when, and when not to, do it that will make my game better. I hope to improve that here.”
He already looks leaner than he did at Hibs, his prominent cheekbones defining his face. “I think my fitness has improved a lot, I’ve lost weight. The fitness coach here [Jim Henry] is fantastic. He’s spoken to me about diet and working on my physique and trying to become a different person really and a different player in the way I move and play the game. I think I can get quicker to an extent, but it is something you are born with. I don’t think Dave Weir is the quickest player in the world but he’s played hundreds of Premiership games. A lot of people look at it as the be-all and end-all. Yes, you can become quicker and change aspects of your game but it’s never going to be a strength of mine — although I have been here just two months and already I am quicker than I was at Hibs last year.”
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Bobo Balde, it could be argued, is everything that Caldwell isn’t. The Guinean is quicker and aerially dominant, yet the ball can seem like a grenade with the pin out when in the vicinity of his feet. Caldwell is capable of setting a more composed tone, but will the Premierleague’s pace allow such refinement? In a way it is a debate between the past and present. Martin O’Neill’s view was that defenders should defend and give the ball to midfielders, like workers passing on the next task in a production line. Gordon Strachan wants more multi-skilling in his workforce.
To Caldwell, the verdict that matters is Strachan’s. “I think everyone has their opinions. We are totally different players and at a big club three centre-halves is probably one light. I think there should be four first-team centre-halves who compete for places. If you come to Celtic and you are guaranteed a game every week, then something is not right. I fully understood that when I came here, but I am in possession of the jersey at the minute. I think I am playing well and the manager does too. As long as that remains the case, I’ll stay in the team. What anyone else thinks or wants to say or wants to write is not going to make any difference.”
It has helped that Mowbray’s philosophy is similar to Strachan’s. “It would have been more difficult going to a club where they played route one football and didn’t want to get it off the goalie and pass from the back.” He joins a clan of young Scots at the club who Strachan hopes he can improve with coaching. “I turned up at training today and there was seven Scottish lads waiting, all first-teamers. It’s good because I don’t think it’s been happening at Celtic and Rangers for a few years. It’s something that’s good for the Scottish game and will hopefully be good for Celtic.”
Caldwell’s own journey to Celtic has hardly been route one either. A lot of miles were covered before he made the short hop across the M8. After being marked out as a player of promise at Stirling’s Wallace High, he played as a target man for Scotland’s schoolboys and followed Stephen, his older brother, to Newcastle. But a host of the club’s hopefuls suffered from the constant changes of manager as Kenny Dalglish was replaced by Ruud Gullit, who was then replaced by Sir Bobby Robson. The Caldwells enjoyed their training- ground battles against Alan Shearer but became faces in the crowd and, as brothers, only added to the confusion for Robson, for whom their Christian names were often interchangeable. Both went on loan to several clubs before leaving permanently. “When you go to a club when you are young the one thing you need is a break. Although you need to be good enough, you still need that wee break. A manager is not going to throw you in unless you are a wonderkid. I never got that and I went down a different path in terms of going on loan and getting experience and games. There’s many ways to getting to where you want to get in football and I am here now.”
Caldwell’s break came in the form of Berti Vogts, who tossed young players into international football like puppies into a river. Most sank, but Caldwell gradually started to swim and it has proved the making of him. He made his international debut in Vogts’s first match, the 5-0 defeat by France, and still does not know how he made it through 90 minutes against Guus Hiddink’s superfit South Korea, but now has 20 caps and has matured rapidly, drawing praise from Marcello Lippi for the manner in which he subdued Francesco Totti when Scotland lost 2-0 to Italy in the San Siro. “It gives you a lot of confidence when you play against the best players in the world and do well. Not just Totti, I have played against (Jose Antonio) Reyes, I have played against (Nwankwo) Kanu. I always felt I came out of it well. A lot of players were thrown in at the deep end, me being one of them. I think I had played 15 career games at club level, and four of them were in the Third Division in England, but as a footballer at the time you think you are ready and you want to do it. Looking back now, it’s definitely helped me in terms of bringing me on quicker than I maybe would have done.”
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His Scotland experience, often as a defensive midfielder, may prove useful to Celtic in the Champions League. It is in the anticipation of Friday’s tournament draw that Caldwell feels the differences from Hibs. “These days it’s almost bigger than international football. The Champions League is the pinnacle. I am 24 now, I am not a kid. When I first came to Scotland I was a young boy and hadn’t done much, but I have played a lot of club games now and I have 20 caps. I have played in some big stadiums where you do need bollocks to get on the ball and play. I felt that’s why I wanted to come here, to win trophies and play in Champions League games and really test and see how good I am. My career kind of starts now.”
Inverness v Celtic
Today, Setanta, 1pm kick-off 2pm