For any footballer, adapting to a new life abroad while being expected to perform on the pitch comes with various challenges. Celtic midfielder Mika Baur is no different, having swapped Germany's second division for the William Hill Premiership earlier this summer.
Baur, who made only his second domestic start in Saturday's 2-1 win over St Mirren, admits he's still adjusting to the Scottish game. Celtic paid Paderborn an initial fee of £4.5million for the diminutive 22-year-old, who's already enjoying the 'dirty' aspect of his new job.
"I’m still learning as this was only my third game and only my second start," Baur said after the victory in Paisley. "Everything is still new and I’m still figuring out how everything works.
"It’s high intensity, there’s a lot of pressure in the duels, a lot of hard fights. But if we play our style and control it then I think we are capable of winning games.
"I’m not the tallest! But why should I be shy. It’s not just about playing nice football with the ball. There’s so much else. You need to do the dirty work sometimes. I learned to do that and I like it – I’ve no problem with it. I’d heard there’s a lot of dirty work here, but I enjoy it.
"I don’t think it’s getting easier. It’s difficult to know what to expect when you are coming from a different country with a different style of football. It will be difficult on Wednesday again but I just want to enjoy it and hopefully play well."
Celtic's win over St Mirren reinstated their position at the Premiership summit five games into the new league season. Martin O'Neill's side boast a perfect domestic record so far in 2026/27. They visit city rivals Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals this Sunday, but first, they're back in Premiership action against St Johnstone on Wednesday night.
"Of course you read a lot about it [the Rangers game]," Baur added. "But we have a game on Wednesday first against St Johnstone. We have to win that one, so my focus is on that match – then we can go for Rangers.
"It’s an exciting period. There’s nothing better than playing every three days. It’s play-recover-play again, but I really enjoy that. It also means you need every player to play a part because there’s a lot of minutes. But I look forward to the next 14 days."
Baur has just moved into a new apartment with his girlfriend, settling into life in Glasgow off the pitch. On it, LASK-aside, he's made a fruitful start, helping progress play forward in Celtic's midfield and looking busy defensively. Against St Mirren, he created more chances than any other player (four).
The German credited manager O’Neill and coaches Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham – the latter of whom speaks Baur’s native language – for their role in his recent form.
"He’s got so much experience," Baur said of O'Neill. "I just played in the second division in Germany and you can learn a lot from that.
"I had a very young coach [Ralf Kettemann, 40], who was in his first year. It was the complete opposite to here.
"I really enjoy it with the manager, and with Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham as well. It’s a great staff and a great coaching team. I’m learning a lot.
"It’s been great with Mark. Sometimes it’s a mixture of English and German! He can be explaining something and he mixes in some German words. It’s good to have someone to speak with like that. It helps a lot."
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Another Celtic coach who drew praise after the St Mirren game was Ross Grant. Brought in from Hearts during the summer with a focus on set-pieces, Grant saw his training-ground work pay off in Paisley, as Liam Scales glanced home from Benjamin Nygren's corner at the front post to to level the match at 1-1.
“It’s definitely something we have been working on," defender Cameron Carter-Vickers said post-match. "I don’t think we were particularly a threat from set pieces, but Ross has come in and taken a lead on that.
"Scalesy’s goal was very similar to Auston Trusty’s a few weeks ago against United so it's definitely something that’s working."
"I think in general we can control games better," Carter-Vickers added, when asked where else Celtic can improve. "Most of their chances probably came after 70, 75 minutes.
"We started going a bit longer and we were giving them the ball back, the game was a bit more open and end to end, which didn’t really suit us. That’s definitely something we can improve."
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