Source: FOOTYMAD
John Hartson on Celtic part I
Celtic Striker John Hartson has been in Glasgow this week promoting his latest book, and he took time out to talk about his beloved Celtic. Hartson had the pleasure of playing for one of the best Celtic teams of all time, one which played in a European final, but he believes that these days are not gone for ever.The big Welshman said: “I think this can be repeated, with the right manager, the right character and the right experience and if we believe we can still do it. I don’t think Rangers are ready to do it at the moment even though they did reach the UEFA Final in recent times as well. That side I played in was a wonderful side, and arguably the best side since the Lisbon Lions, and that’s no disrespect to sides including the likes of Paul McStay, Roy Aitken and people like that. These are not my words but many have told me themselves and we proved it by winning trophy after trophy. We had a great manager in Martin O’Neill and great players in the side and I think it can be done again. We had a blend of experience and youth, we had Chris Sutton, Neil Lennon, Alan Thomson and put that together with the genius that was Henrick Larsson. We then had Maloney and Petrov coming through on the bench at the same time. I think if they can get the balance right at the moment and get some players with British experience in then things can get better."Former team mate Neil Lennon took over from Gordon Strachan towards the end of last season. John believes he is already showing some of the traits of Martin O’Neill, "He would be a fool not to have taken something from Martin after the success he has had as a manager. He worked closely with him for the best part of 12 years at Leicester and Celtic. I would do certain thing like Martin and he will be in contact with him to get advice now and again and he would be a fool not to."One of the major talking points of the new season has been the number of nationalities in the Celtic side at the moment but that is no concern to Hartson at the moment, “The bargains are now abroad, if he can pick up a player for £300 grand on the continent, and a similar player in England would cost in the millions it makes sense. They are not demanding so much in wages, David James was looking for £45,000 per week and is now letting in goals at Bristol City, and Jimmy Bullard was looking for £70000. Neil managed to pick up a young goalkeeper for £250,000 and a quarter of David James’ wages, Neil is prepared to work with them and bring them on. He is also prepared to promote from the reserves and bring them through the system. We may have ended up with so many foreigners as that’s where the bargains are, the current crop look like good players with Joe Ledley, Scott Brown and Maloney to complement them. We keep talking about young Shaun Maloney but he played in the game I made my debut for Celtic against Dundee United and that was in 2001, so he has 10 years of experience now."
