Flood: I owe dream move to Levein

The Irish midfielder was unveiled at Celtic's Lennoxtown training complex on Monday afternoon just 18 months after his career looked to have stalled at Cardiff.Flood had been handed his Premiership debut by Kevin Keegan as a teenager with Manchester City but the vast majority of his 28 appearances for Cardiff were from the bench.He took the bold decision to move to Tannadice on loan and has reaped the rewards by winning a move to the club he followed as a boy."I played a few games in the Premiership and then after about 18 months I went to Cardiff," the 23-year-old said."That didn't go so well, so then Craig Levein asked me if I would come up to Dundee United on loan and get some games and get my confidence back."I've got a lot to thank Craig Levein for, and everybody at Dundee United, because they have done so much for me. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be sitting here today."I never in a million years thought I could ever get the chance to play for Celtic."My aim was to go to Dundee United and just play some games, and hopefully play well. This has just been an absolute dream."Levein has transformed United from the Scottish Premier League's bottom club to challengers for trophies and a European place, and has had a similar impact on Flood's career."When I went up to Dundee I was low in confidence and the first thing he did was get my confidence back," Flood said."I think he has made me an all-round better player and a stronger person. I think I'm a lot better player now than I was at Cardiff."I remember people saying to me 'Why are you going on loan? Why are you going up to the SPL?'"I knew Craig Levein was a top, top manager. I spoke to my mate, Paddy McCarthy, who was with him at Leicester City."He said 'Go and play for him, he's an absolute joy to work with'."It's been an absolute dream for me, to work for him and then my boyhood dream comes true."The Dubliner could not afford to travel to Glasgow to watch his favourite team as a boy, and made no attempt to disguise his excitement at wearing the hoops."It's an absolute honour," said Flood, who left home aged 15 to move to Manchester City's academy."Usually I pay £40 to get this strip and I've got it for free."Everybody wants to play for their boyhood team and when the chance comes, you just can't turn it down."When I was young, (Henrik) Larsson, John Hartson, Chris Sutton, (Lubomir) Moravcik were the players that I looked up to."When you're in Dublin and you're playing football, everybody aspires to play for Celtic one day."Flood revealed his family and friends were "overjoyed" at his move, including his father who never showed much interest in football until it became clear there was a talent in the family."Everyone has been ringing back home and everyone has been texting," said Flood, who has signed a two-and-half-year contract."Everybody is just really happy for me and they hope it works out."My dad wasn't really into football until he saw me progress. Now he thinks he's Jose Mourinho."Flood's last action as a Dundee United player was to miss the penalty that helped Celtic reach the Co-operative Insurance Cup final.Flood hit out over the prolonged transfer after the game, admitting the speculation had affected him.And he expressed regret that he did not leave United on a high note."I just wanted to go out and play well for Dundee United and hopefully catch the manager's eye," Flood said."I just wanted to go out on a good note and unfortunately I missed a penalty."On his post-match outburst, Flood added: "I just think I was frustrated with the game. I think that was blown out of context."

Source: Team_Talk