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Fullname: Christopher Jullien
aka: Christophe Jullien
Born: 22 March 1993
Birthplace: Lagny-sur-Marne, France
Signed: 28 June 2019 (£7m from Toulouse)
Left: 23 August 2022 (€1m to Montpellier)
Position: Central Defender
Debut: Kalju 0-2 Celtic, European Cup, 30 July 2019
Squad No.: 2
Internationals: ? [which international team played for]
International Caps: ? [complete at end of career]
International Goals: ? [complete at end of career]
Biog
Christopher Jullien signed up as a Central Defender at Celtic having had a long experience in French football with Toulouse. Celtic had lost Boyata and loanee Benkovic, so shoring up the central defence was a must alongside young Ajer and Simunovic. An expensive signing of around €7-8m estimated, it was hoped he would give the Celtic First Team some steel in the defence. His arrival came just one day after a major domestic signing of £3-4m for David Turnbull had fallen through due to medical issues, and two fallouts in a row would have meant harsh criticisms from the fans & media.
After a tricky start culminating in the defeat to Cluj in the Champions League qualifiers, Jullien finally settled in as a mainstay in the Celtic defence. The loss of Benkovic meant he had lot to live up to, and he very much filled in that role.
He was a competent and strong defender, unafraid of the tackle and challenge. He partnered well with Ajer, however there were concerns over his need to get stuck in more, which is part of the reason Shane Duffy was brought in on loan one season (and was a costly mistake). Jullien was always willing to attack the ball at set pieces and was chipping in goals wonderfully. A growing reputation was making him a firm favourite.
What most sealed his favoured status was two notable goals.
He scored a late goal v Lazio to earn Celtic a home victory 2-1 in a very dark atmosphere after a number of Lazio fans had paraded in Glasgow City centre doing fascist salutes. He then scored the league cup final winning goal v TheRangers in December 2019 in a 1-0 victory despite Celtic having been under the cosh. He deserved all the praise for that moment alone, but the match also highlighted underlying concerns of the first team.
However he had arrived at Celtic when the first team was already beginning to live off the success of the Rodgers era, but even prior to that the defence was a concern. Celtic had begun to falter under Lennon but still went on to win the treble for the fourth time running albeit with the league campaign curtailed due to covid. Jullien had a lot to take pride from his part in this historic achievement.
As the defensive problems worsened so did the results but Jullien wasn’t the main problem. Humiliating defeats in Europe clearly illustrated the deficiencies, but little was being done to correct the obvious issues. The coaching and organisation was pathetic, and losing goals from set pieces became the norm. Even weaker sides felt no fear. It meant that Jullien was to be unfairly over criticised by some when he was clearly not the main issue in defence.
If anything, Jullien’s worth was best proven when an injury in mid-season 2020/21 saw him out long term and the defence nose dived. In truth he was having a shaky season beforehand but as said the coaching & organisation was the bigger issue. Despite any defensive errors by Jullien (including gifting Ross County a penalty & the lead which knocked Celtic out the league cup), he was still a fine player. The players as a unit were collectively culpable, especially the full backs.
Ange Postecoglu Era
Celtic had collapsed in the past season and a new manager in Ange Postecoglou had arrived but Jullien had to wait to prove himself due to the long term injury with many repeatedly asking about his return date.
After many false dawns, he finally returned in a match v Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup in February 2022 as a sub after over a year out (410 days) due to his injury. He was very warmly received but Celtic were now a very different unit to the one that he last had played in, and now he had to compete with Carter-Vickers, Welsh and Starfelt for the central defensive roles in a much improved defence (albeit one that still developing).
Celtic were on a roll and he had missed out on the incredible turn around. Frustratingly his only Celtic appearance in his last full season was in the Scottish Cup, the only domestic tournament Celtic did not a trophy.
Reports were positive on his reserve team form but with all due respect that was a step down from where he should have been, and unlike before he had an unenviable challenge to make it back to the first team. The further addition of Jenz to the squad was a further indicator that his time at Celtic was up.
With only a season left on his contract (albeit with Celtic having a one-way option to extend), he opted to move to Montpellier (France) for a fee of €1m on a 3 year contract. He almost moved to Schalke just prior to this transfer, but the move broke down reportedly due to issues over ‘personal terms’ between Schalke & the player. Soon after he was posting on social media some curious memes stating “I fight the world, I fight myself“, although none of it was targeted against Celtic, just breast beating in a frustrating situation.
His departure was not a surprise. Injury’s aside he gave us good memories with the league cup final winning goal and the Lazio goal being the obvious highlights.
He will be very well fondly remembered as he was wholly professional and always gave his all whenever on the pitch with some great moments along the way.
We wished him the best.
Post-Celtic
[….]
Quotes
“I come here to have as big an impact as I can. To play in front of these fans, in this stadium – I can’t wait.”
Christopher Jullien (2019)
‘You can come more and more for more than one time. The more you come at me, the more the zero stays on that scoreboard’. “I told him that this is my strength and this is where I come from. A guy like him is not going to put me down. No-one is going to put me down. “If I am still on the field and if I can stand up, I am going to say what I can say. I just said to him: ‘Come to me and we’re going to have a fight, for sure. But with me it’s going to come from within, from my heart. I will be ready’.”
Christopher Jullien (2019)
“Woah this was one (of) the best feelings… Thank you all for that moment and all the good vibes during all that time.”
Christopher Jullien after his return to Celtic after 410 days out with injury (Feb 2022)
“I was a big fan of Jullien when he played in 2019-2020 season. However, his performance profile was not as flattering as my fandom felt. This radar is one I put together showing attributes pertaining to a CB playing in Ange’s high line. Jullien played deep for a Celtic CB, and his penchant for fouling, errors, being dispossessed, etc. playing under NFL would likely be amplified even more playing for Ange. My guess is these issues were evident in training. Would think he’ll be better suited at Schalke and hope he can revive his career there.”
Harsh review by Juco James from TheCelticWay (stats analyst, 2022)
“I fight the world, I fight myself!”
Out of favour Christoph Jullien goes heavy on social media https://videocelts.com/2022/08/blogs/latest-news/i-fight-the-world-i-fight-myself-out-of-favour-celt-goes-heavy-on-social-media/ (Aug 2022)
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2019-20 | 28 | 4 | 3 | 11(1) | 47 |
| Goals | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Clean Sheets | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
| 2020-21 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 14 |
| Goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 2021-22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 37 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 62 |
| Goals | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
Honours with Celtic
Pictures
KDS
Jullien hails Lennon sacrifice in Celtic move
New Celtic defender Christopher Jullien revealed boss Neil Lennon sacrificed his birthday to convince him to make his Parkhead switch.
Now he wants to repay the county Armagh man by gifting him another glut of trophies.
Lennon turned 48 on Tuesday but spent the day flying from his side’s summer training base in Austria to Paris in order to complete his move for the giant 6ft 5in Toulouse defender.
And his efforts were rewarded as the 26-year-old agreed a four-year deal as part of a €7.8m swoop.
“I’ve been speaking with the manager for the last three days,” explained Jullien after taking his first look around Celtic Park.
“He came to Paris on his birthday to meet me, so I have to thank him for that.
“It was really nice for him to come to me and make that first contact. He’s a really nice guy and I can’t wait to join his team and work for him.
Lennon spent his birthday in the air as he tied up the move for Jullien
“He was in the training camp but he told me he was excited to meet me in Paris and for me it’s a great feeling to have a coach who really wants you and was just happy to see me.”
Celtic have splashed out their second-biggest ever transfer fee to land a player who emerged from the famed Auxerre youth academy before relaunching his career at Toulouse following an unhappy stint in Germany with Freiburg.
Jullien is not concerned by the hefty price tag round his neck but is determined to plunder as much silverware as he can after joining up with the triple treble winners.
He said: “I’m not really focusing on the fee, more on what I can do. I know that this team last year did a really good job.
“That’s a good pressure for me. I’m coming into a team that wins a lot of things and know I’ll do my best to bring everything I can to the table and to do the same things again.
“It’s a really exciting time for my career to come to such a historic club, the best club in Scotland. I can’t wait to get started. When you start playing football, you want to leave a legacy. The fact you can chase some trophies here was a really good thing in my mind.
“For me every day you can progress and that’s my goal. I said to the manager a few days ago, ‘I really hope your staff is ready for me because I’m going to be on their back a lot’. My goal is to come here, progress a lot and become another man.”
#CelticFC’s new numéro deux!#BienvenueChris pic.twitter.com/gnEnjCW5IB
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) June 28, 2019
As well as Lennon, Jullien spoke with former Toulouse team-mate Odsonne Edouard as he sought advice on his move to Scotland.
But he was already well aware of the club’s French connections having played alongside former Parkhead favourite Bobo Balde’s little brother earlier in his career.
The former France Under-20 cap said: “I spoke to Odsonne two weeks ago and he came to me first. He said, ‘I hear your name a lot these days’.
“We were just chatting and when it started getting serious I asked him a couple of questions and he told me a lot of good things about the club.
“After that, my mind was made up. I know Bobo Balde was also at Celtic. I don’t know everything about what he did here but I do know his little brother Yasser. I played with him when I was younger at Auxerre.
“Every day he was speaking about what his brother did. I heard a lot.
“I’ve also heard a lot of good things about French players here and that’s nice. It would be great if I could do as well as Bobo. My goal is to come here and make the best impact I can.”
Celtic Football Club Statement
By Celtic Football Club
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2021/january/Celtic-Football-Club-Statement/
Celtic Football Club confirmed today that Christopher Jullien has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating at home. We wish Christopher a speedy recovery.
While all of the other members of the squad and backroom team have tested negative, we have been informed by the authorities that, having been deemed ‘close contacts’, Celtic manager Neil Lennon, assistant John Kennedy and 13 first-team players will be required to self-isolate on a precautionary basis as required by the current regulations.
The Club would like to thank the Scottish FA, JRG and the Scottish Government for their assistance in managing this case. Celtic will, of course, fulfill its fixture against Hibernian this evening.
Clearly we are hugely disappointed, as we know our supporters will be. The contacts were identified during the period from Wednesday last week, primarily around flight and team coach travel, during which time Celtic applied the same rigorous protocols used for pre-season training camps, UEFA match travel and for all domestic match arrangements in Scotland.
These protocols have served us well in the past, as the Club has not had one positive case in our own ‘bubble’ until now. As we have already stated, Celtic’s decision to travel to Dubai for a training camp was for performance reasons. Whilst we were in Dubai, the announcements made on January 4 significantly changed the COVID landscape.
The reality is that a case could well have occurred had the team remained in Scotland, as other cases have done in Scottish football and across UK sport in the past week.
Celtic has done everything it can to ensure we have in place the very best procedures and protocols. From the outset of the pandemic, Celtic has worked closely with the Scottish Government and Scottish football and we will continue to do so.
I fight the world, I fight myself- out of favour Celt goes heavy on social media
Photo of Joe McHugh
Joe McHugh
| 07:13 10/08/22
https://videocelts.com/2022/08/blogs/latest-news/i-fight-the-world-i-fight-myself-out-of-favour-celt-goes-heavy-on-social-media/Image for I fight the world, I fight myself- out of favour Celt goes heavy on social media
There can be little doubt that Chris Jullien is one of the most creative footballers on social media.
A year ago he was posting regular videos from the gym of his comeback from knee injury but 20 months on from being struck down he has only managed 20 minutes of competitive football- in a Scottish Cup tie against Raith Rovers.
Jullien has had plenty of thinking time, yesterday on Instagram he put together three images with the middle one requiring the most effort.
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With the main picture inside his car he has added an Gif of himself at the bottom with the lyrics of ‘Pray for Me’ displayed which includes fighting the world, fighting himself, floods of tears and puddles of blood in the streets. All pretty heavy stuff.
I fight the world, I fight you, I fight myself
I fight God, just tell me how many burdens left
I fight pain and hurricanes, today I wept
I’m tryna fight back tears, flood on my doorsteps
Life a livin’ hell, puddles of blood in the streets
Shooters on top of the building, government aid ain’t relief
Earthquake, the body drop, the ground breaks
The poor run with smoke lungs and Scarface
Who need a hero? (Hero)
You need a hero, look in the mirror, there go your hero
Who on the front lines at ground zero? (Hero)
My heart don’t skip a beat, even when hard times bumps the needle
Mass destruction and mass corruption
The souls are sufferin’ men
Clutchin’ on deaf ears again, rapture is comin’
It’s all prophecy and if I gotta be sacrificed for the greater good
Then that’s what it gotta be
Despite playing in most of Celtic’s pre-season matches Jullien has failed to make the matchday squad for the matches against Aberdeen and Ross County.
With Moritz Jenz joining the club Jullien appears to have been relegated to fifth choice central defender with his contract running until May next year.
‘NOW IS THE TIME FOR GOODBYE,’ JULLIEN’S EMOTIONAL FAREWELL TO CELTIC FANS
By CQN Magazine on 24th August 2022 Latest News
CHRISTOPHER JULLIEN has delivered an emotional farewell to Celtic after sealing his £850,000 move to Montpellier.
The 29-year-old Frenchman cost a club record £7million for a defender when he was signed by Neil Lennon from Toulouse in June 2019.
However, injury wrecked his Hoops career and he has played a mere 12 minutes of first-team football since a sickening collision with an upright after a goal-line clearance in the 3-0 win over Dundee United at Parkhead on December 30 2020 – just 10 days after participating in the team’s phenomenal quadruple treble success.
SHINING BRIGHT…Christopher Jullien celebrates a goal against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
Jullien partnered on-loan Shane Duffy in the middle of the rearguard that claimed the Scottish Cup in a tense penalty-kick shoot-out after a 3-3 extra-time draw with Hearts at Hampden.
The towering centre-back, who has agreed a three-year contract at the Ligue 1 outfit, thanked ex-boss Lennon and assistant John Kennedy in his farewell message on Instagram – but there is no mention of Ange Postecoglou.
Jullien wrote: “Hail Hail Bhoys
“Now is the time for goodbye…
“First of all I would like to thank the fans for the warm welcome 3 years ago in Glasgow and being so honest with me through the up and downs. I liked your mentality and as you saw i gave everything on the pitch and Paradise always responded. What a crowd.
AU REVOIR…Christopher Jullien exits Celtic with the memory of a treble success.
“Some might think that I’m satisfied finishing this way, my time in the club that gave me the first championship of my career… I let them think again.
“Then I would like to thank the club for bringing me here, I came here to learn what winning mentality was and I’ve learned so much, during so many great games, so thank you to the Celtic organisation.
“Last but not least i would like to thank my teammates, so many great players, my former coaches Neil Lennon, John Kennedy and all the staff that was beside me during these 3 years.
“Once a Celtic forever a Celtic.
“COYBIG. HOOPSUPSIDEYOURHEAD4EVER”
HOOP HOOP HOORAY…Christopher Jullien races away after scoring the 2019 League Cup winner.
The highlight of Jullien’s injury-interrupted stay in Glasgow was his Betfred League Cup winner against Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox side in a pulsating encounter at the national stadium in December 2019 – just a year before his career-threatening injury.
The French ace swept in a first-time effort from a Ryan Christie free-kick around the hour mark and the Hoops had to battle for half-an-hour with 10 men after Jeremie Frimpong had been red-carded by referee Willie Collum following an alleged push on Alfredo Morelos.
Fraser Forster saved the resultant penalty-kick from the Colombian frontman and it was backs-to-the-wall from the heroic keeper and Jullien and Co before the silverware was heading back to the east end of Glasgow for the fourth successive season.
A late headed winner against Lazio at a rocking Parkhead is up there, too.
The CQN team and legions of Celtic fans wish Jullien the best of fortune as he continues his career in his homeland.