Scottish Premiership: John Collins returns to Celtic after being named assistant manager
Tuesday 17 June 2014 15:09, UK
John Collins is returning to Celtic after being unveiled as Ronny Deila's assistant manager.
Collins made 229 appearances for Celtic from 1990 to 1996 before leaving for Monaco and had two spells in the Premier League with Everton and Fulham.
Since turning his focus to management, Collins spent just over a year in charge of boyhood club Hibernian and six months in Belgium with Charleroi before being appointed director of football at Livingston in early 2012.
Collins said: “It is a huge honour for me to return to Celtic, the club which has always been such a major part of my life.
"I am grateful to Ronny for giving me this wonderful opportunity and I look forward to working closely with him and the players to ensure that we can continue to bring the good times to Celtic.
"I know what a great club Celtic is and I know exactly what the club means to our fans.
"I will support the manager in every way and I am sure that together with our players, the backroom staff and the fans, we can all play our part in bringing success to the club.”
Deila said: “I am delighted to appoint John to the position of assistant manager. I have had a number of meetings with John, I can see what the club means to him and I can see the qualities that he will bring to Celtic.
"He is a first-class coach and has ideas on football which are very similar to mine so I am sure he will be a great addition to my team.
"He will start immediately and together we will now prepare for this first day of training next week. We have important matches in the near future so I am pleased that I have been able to secure him so quickly. Now we can get to work.”
Watch Sky Sports News from 9am this Wednesday for the announcement of next season's Premier League, Football League and SPFL fixtures.
