Johansen, Stefan

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Fullname: Stefan Marius Johansen
aka: Stefan Johansen
Born: 8 Jan 1991
Birthplace: Vardø, Norway
Signed: 15 Jan 2014
Left: 26 Aug 2016 (to Fulham, £1.8m)
Position: Midfielder
Debut: Celtic 4-0 Hibernian, SP, 26 Jan 2014
Squad No.: 25
Internationals: Norway
International Caps: 55
International Goals: 6

Biog

“I hate to lose. I want to win every time. Even a game on my mobile phone…” Stefan Johansen

Stefan Johansen arrived at Celtic with a good pedigree from Norway, with hopes high that Celtic had found a talented midfielder who could help to take the first team’s game forward. The glut of midfielders at Celtic at the time had talent but often in terms of graft ahead of creativity. Fast, aggressive, good finisher, good passer, so lots of ticks against his name.

Stefan Johansen started his first full game v St Mirren in the league in Feb 2014, and hit the ground running, winning plaudits and the man of the match for his performance. Within his first few initial matches he’d already proven to be a fair new addition to the squad. His early days were patchy and it took time to bed in. Under Neil Lennon, the side was slowly receding as Lennon had already decided to step down at the end of the summer.

The entry of fellow countryman Ronny Deila in season 2015-16 was the catalyst to show his talents. Building up, his main form came to the fore in the second half of the season, after Deila dropped of out of favour Commons giving Johansen the chance he needed, in the position he favoured and the opportunity to stake his claim.

From then on in the management found that he was to be a pivotal player for the spine of the team, and Johansen settled in as a mainstay of the side.

Fitting in the centre of midfield, he was central to the creation of the play, and with the players gelling together after a shambolic start to Deila’s reign, the team started to play with more fluidity. Johansen was quite multi talented, comfortable in tackling, defending as well as attack. Not necessarily a starry eyed player, but easily stood out in many games. His value was definitely being noticed with noises rising of interest from the German leagues for his talents.

He went on to score 13 goals for the first team who were on a role, and fair to say that when Johansen was on form then so was the whole first team as many opposition teams domestically were to find out.

As a measure of how far he had come in his time, he was PFA Scotland Player of the Year for 2014-15. A great achievement in the season we had won a league and league cup double. Taking in the competition that season from van Dijk, Denayer and Gordon then that was another wonderful achievement.

Yet then it seemed to go all wrong. 2015-16 was a disaster for Johansen, and a curious collapse. Rumours persisted that he demanded a transfer and on rejection of the demand he then went off in a huff. His form was often poor was and as the midfield was in a shambolic state, he was getting it in the neck as badly as the rest. There were rarely ever again those matches which he led by example and impressed.

Now often seemingly unmotivated or lacking confidence he was a pale shadow of the dynamic player of the past season. Worst was that his worst trait on the pitch was little bettered as he continued to amass unnecessary yellow cards, going into unneeded challenges, with 16 yellow cards in his second season (12 in his first). For someone in his position it was costly for all and showed a lack of maturity & sense.

Some pinned blame on him for the disastrous loss to Malmo in the Champions League playoffs, with one stroppy just prior to their clinching goal in a 3-2 defeat for Celtic denting his reputation.

It was disappointing to see his decline, as many felt he would be a mainstay in the side to develop around. In many ways, an old cliché applies here. One player on the park is said to symbolise the manager’s character, and for Deila it was said to be Johansen. So as Deila’s reign rose then crashed, is it any surprise that it correlated with Johansen’s form? Deila wanted attacking football and so on, and this helped to work for Johansen at first. Yet this emphasis backfired, and often the fare was not entertaining.

Johansen’s form slumped as did Deila’s managerial nous, and the side lurched from one failing to another. Was Deila’s perseverance of Johansen to do with his own realisation that a successful Johansen was necessary for Deila’s plan to be working? Maybe, but it wasn’t working. Was a successful Johansen needed for a successful Deila or the other way around?

Some state Johansen was best suited in a traditional 4-4-2 system, but the old fashioned system was not to Deila’s taste. He had the energy and tenacity to play in a defensive role but maybe lacked the poise or composure required, and on occasion did play a defence splitting pass or produced a good finish but not consistently so he wasn’t ideal as a number 10 type when there were other better suited around.

The Celtic support didn’t help admittedly. With the unending tripping up of the first XI in Deila’s second season, Johansen became an excessively targeted figure. Frustrations were directed at him (as well as one or two others) fuelled by the sharp contrast in his form to the last season. But was this barracking simply compounding the problem? It didn’t help, and Johansen’s loss of form was not the only black mark in the squad.

As Rodgers came in to revitalise the side, Johansen was from early on seen to be a goner (as much from the player as anyone else). He was made captain during a friendly, so showed some confidence in him but played little more for the club as the First Team made it through to the vital Champions League Group stages. He will possibly miss having had the chance to play in that tournament. His heart though was likely no longer at Celtic.

He opted for a move to Fulham (then in the second tier) for an estimated £1.8m in August 2016, just after Celtic won their final playoff matches in the Champions League (he played no part). Rodgers as polite as always publicly said he wished to keep him but the inference from Johansen was he wished to leave with a season left on his contract. As many others had turned their careers around lately at Celtic after initial failings (like Rogic) it was disappointing to see him leave but maybe it was for the best especially as Rodgers was rebuilding the side and had done well so far with the few new faces he had already brought in.

We wished him the best, and should look fondly back on his time in his first full season.

He did well with Fulham, helping them to promotion to the top tier in England, but was given few appearances when the club made it to the Premiership. However, after being relegated, he was back in the first team. He spent time away on loan to West Brom & QPR, before signing permanently at QPR.

At the international level, he won 55 caps and was made captain, but it was a poor era for Norway who failed to qualify for any of the major tournaments during his time, whilst all their Nordic neighbours (including even Iceland & Finland) were making it through.

[….]

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League

• 2014-15, 2015-16

Scottish League Cup

• 2014-15

Pictures

• Player Pics

KDS

• Signs for Celtic (2014)
• Leaves Celtic (2016)

Articles

Johansen will soak up the pressure and atmosphere

Michael Grant, Herald
Chief football writer
Thursday 16 January 2014

Stefan Johansen last night insisted he had no fears about making the step up from little Stromsgodset to Celtic.

Stefan Johansen is ready to grasp ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity

The 23-year-old Norwegian international midfielder was presented to the media yesterday afternoon after signing a three-and-half-year deal for a £1.7m fee which could rise to £2m. The transfer is Celtic’s first of the January signing window and the biggest move in Johansen’s career. “It is a very big step for me,” he said.

Recent signings Amido Balde and Teemu Pukki struggled to make an early impression with Celtic after arriving from overseas clubs for fees similar to Johansen’s, although Virgil van Dijk eased in impressively having been bought for even more. The pressure to deliver remains constant on all new Celtic signings but Johansen claimed to be relaxed about handling expectations.

Having had his first experience of the stadium yesterday, albeit when it was empty, he was clearly excited about the prospect of taking his place in Celtic teams playing to crowds of up to 60,000. The Norwegian club Stromsgodset play in the Marienlyst Stadium which can hold only 7500.

“I love the idea of that,” he said. “You shouldn’t be afraid of that. This is what you dream of. When you are 12 or 14 years of age you dream about playing for your national team and for a big club in Europe. Now I’m playing for the Norwegian national team and I’ve also just arrived at one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It can’t be much better than that for me. If you are afraid of the crowd then I think you work in the wrong job.

“I hate to lose. I want to win every time. Even a game on my mobile phone . . . Of course, when you come to a club like Celtic it’s a big pressure on you. But I’m that kind of person who can deal with pressure. The pressure is what I make it . . . it is not bigger than what I put on myself to succeed.

“I think all of this will inspire me. Just looking around here inspires me. In fact just looking at it on TV inspires me. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To come to a club like Celtic is probably the kind of thing that 100,000 kids dream about, and here I am. This is a chance I need to take. I need to work even harder than I’ve done until now.”

Jostein Flo, the Stromsgodset sporting director, admitted the player would be missed on and off the field. Johansen played 67 times for the club in two years and helped them become Norwegian champions for the first time in 43 years.

“This is our club’s biggest sale and, although we cannot reveal the price, we can say we are very pleased,” said Flo. “Of course we will miss Stefan but some of this money will ensure we can strengthen the team and continue to build the club. Stroms­godset will be fighting for medals in 2014. This is a good day for Stefan and a great day for Stromsgodset.”

Stefan Johansen in full bloom for Celtic

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl/stefan-johansen-in-full-bloom-for-celtic-1-3577592
by ANDREW SMITH AT GLOBAL ENERGY STADIUM

Published on the 20 October
2014

IT MIGHT seem perverse to see a one-sided, much needed, win as potentially problematic. Yet it escaped the notice of no-one that Celtic’s 5-0 flogging of bottom club Ross County was achieved without Kris Commons, and that his absence seemed to liberate Stefan Johansen.

Ross County 0-5 Celtic

Scorers: Celtic – Guidetti (11), McGregor (14), Stokes (30, 56), Denayer (35)

Celtic manager Ronny Deila took a pounding for leaving out Commons, last season’s player of the year, scorer of 32 goals in that campaign, and so often his team’s creative fulcrum, from Champions League qualifiers. Yet it is perhaps worth recalling the one accomplished performance Deila’s side produced in that sorry period. It came with the 1-1 draw away to Maribor in the Champions League play-off first leg.

Then, as at Dingwall, Deila’s favoured 4-2-3-1 essentially could be read as a 4-3-3. That was the case because Johansen played in front of two midfielders. The configuration could never be read as a 4-3-3 when Commons plays off a striker to be the middleman of the three. In Slovenia that night, just as in the Highlands on Saturday, Johansen produced the sort of outstanding display that has eluded him when he has been berthed as one of the two sitting midfielders.

The return of Charlie Mulgrew to partner Scott Brown gave Johansen the licence to be the attacking funnel. Even allowing for the impoverished nature of County, the results were devastating. Johansen had an input into all four goals that were netted in an 18-minute first-half spell.

The muscle injury that affects his “butt” – as Deila calls it – won’t prevent Commons being available for Celtic’s encounter at home to Astra Guirgiu in the Europa League on Thursday night. The question, though, is whether the 31-year-old ought be accommodated, and how? On-loan Manchester City forward John Guidettii – who started Saturday’s rout by volleying in from four yards after 11 minutes – is unavailable. Clearly then there is an available slot up-front. No evidence provided by £2.4  million signing Stefan Scepovic suggests that he is ready to fill that role.

Commons, then, could be an option, but it may be that his limited mobility raises legitimate issues as to whether he does fit the Deila template long-term. It is believed Celtic are unwilling to meet the salary demands he is requesting to stay beyond the end of his current deal next summer – for all that Deila has said there is “good dialogue”.

And though links to his old Celtic manager Neil Lennon, now in charge at Bolton, may have no real material basis apart from the Irishman’s comments that he would be “interested” at the “right price”, how Deila deals with the Commons question isn’t straightforward. What he needs are performances and results in line with that achieved at the weekend, where the post-match chatter revolved around eulogies to the man in the Commons role, effectively.

Callum McGregor, who netted with a crisp shot to make it 2-0 after only 14 minutes on his return following illness, was only too willing to offer up such. “Excellent,” he said of Johansen. “In the first half especially, with real driving runs from midfield, and going and pressing people. He sets the tone. Him and Broonie [Scott Brown] do that every week, set the tone to go and press and get in teams’ faces, then when we’ve got the ball show we can play. I think that was the perfect example. He gives you that intelligence on the ball as well, whether that be good passes through the lines or moving the ball up the pitch. Or even in a defensive role, because he gets about. It was good to see him today. I thought all three of the midfielders were excellent.”

Brown possibly set the tone for a performance of real zeal – one in which Anthony Stokes bagged a double with terrific long-range drives – by giving it tight to his team-mates following the 1-0 defeat by Hamilton Accies that made for a head-in-the-stocks fortnight for Deila and his team.

McGregor admitted team meetings, and rank and full exchanges had followed on from Brown claiming that some Celtic players were guilty of hiding in a first home league reverse in almost two years.

“[His criticism was] fair enough,” said McGregor, who was exempt from it since he didn’t play. “It’s his opinion and he’s very much entitled to it. It was a poor game against Hamilton, but I think the boys put it right today and I hope we can go from strength to strength and go on a really good run.

“We had two meetings just to look over the game and see where we could have done better. Everybody knew exactly what was expected of us today and going forward in the weeks to come. Everybody could give an opinion [in the meetings]. It’s not just one man talking, or two or three men talking, everybody’s got to have their say. We have to get better as a team and I hope we’ve shown we’ve taken a step in the right direction.”

After two steps forward in recent games for County under new manager Jim McIntyre, Saturday was one major step in the wrong direction. Yet, considering that he had two new signings in his set-up – former Motherwell player Paul Quinn coming off the bench after signing that morning – it shouldn’t be surprising McIntyre is seeking the right blend. In all, the Highland club have brought in 17 new players since the end of last season, only four of these in the one-month-old present management regime. County’s fate will not be settled by games against Celtic, and with four points in their previous two Premiership outings, it was fair enough for McIntyre to maintain there was “no doubt” his team would “bounce back”. Bouncing up the table might be altogether more difficult, though.

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Stefan Johansen opens up on Celtic culture shock as Norwegian blown away by how ‘big’ club was

Stefan Johansen became one of Ronny Deila’s biggest stars during his time at Celtic.
dailyrecord

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/stefan-johansen-opens-up-celtic-29163925
Former Celtic midfielder Stefan Johansen has spoken on just how shocked he was upon joining the Hoops in January 2014 – claiming that there ‘was only one option’ after interest emerged from Parkhead.

Johansen joined Celtic from Norwegian Tippeligaen side Stromsgodset in January 2014 as a 23-year-old, and instantly hit the ground running at Parkhead with a string of impressive performances. 19 goals in 113 appearances followed in the east end of Glasgow over a two-and-a-half-year spell that saw him sweep up three Scottish Premiership titles and a Scottish League Cup.

Prior to his move to Fulham, the Scandinavian star won the Celtic Player of the Year award in 2014/15 to etch his name in Hoops folklore. He has since been promoted to the Premier League twice and made 55 caps in a hugely successful career, though he still looks back strongly on his time under Ronny Deila and Neil Lennon. And speaking to the Celtic View Podcast, he spoke of his shock at realising just how big Celtic were when moving to Glasgow.

Speaking about his time in green and white, Johansen said: “The season finished back home in Norway about November time, and I think we went on a training camp with the national team in Abu Dhabi actually.

“I had a few chats with my agent over the December period and Celtic got mentioned. Me and my wife had a little chat and there was only one real option! Everything went quite quick. I knew Celtic was a big club but then I flew to Glasgow and I realised how big a club it was, because I didn’t expect all the cameras, private entrance for the medical and stuff like that. It was a bit shocking but it was brilliant!

“It was a big shock to be honest, obviously the Champions League games and stuff, so you kind of knew it but is a completely different experience when you’re there in person. It was a brilliant time; the fans, the city, the players, everyone was so welcoming so it was quite easy to get into the group and I felt at home quite quickly.”

Johansen played alongside some top quality players in his time at Parkhead, including the likes of Scott Brown, James Forrest and Mikael Lustig to name but a few. However none have gone on to have the career that Virgil van Dijk has had; with Johansen it was ‘only a matter of time’ until he tested himself against the best sides in the world.

“Yeah, I think everyone could see it. As a player he was unbelievable and he’s progressed since then, but he was a top player already then and it was only a matter of time that he would become one of the best in the world. He’s worked hard for it, but the talent, I think everyone can agree they saw that early on with him.”

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