JONNY COME LATELY
New Bhoy Hayes can’t wait to get started – 14 years after Brendan talked him out of joining Hoops
JONNY HAYES turned his back on Celtic as a teenager after listening to the sales pitch of a relatively unknown Reading youth coach called Brendan Rodgers.
Ready to launch his career with his boyhood heroes ahead of Manchester City, the Dubliner decided to snub both and move to a town he had never even heard of, earning the wrath of his Hoops-daft family.
Those same powers of persuasion may not have been required by Rodgers 14 years on as the former Aberdeen winger penned a three-year-deal with the Premiership champions.
And Hayes admitted he’s still pinching himself after joining the Hoops at the second time of asking.
The 29-year-old recalled the sliding doors moment when a telephone call from Rodgers convinced him to walk away from Tommy Burns and a bag of free tracksuits.
He said: “I came very close to signing for Celtic as a 15-year-old. I had been on trial three or four times and I will never forget the day I left.
“I was at the club shop and Tommy Burns was there looking after me, giving me tracksuits for people back in Ireland. “I had made my mind up to sign. I had the chance to go to 10 or 12 clubs and narrowed it down to either Celtic or Man City.
“I spoke to my family and decided to go to Celtic. I didn’t even want to go on trial to Reading. I can remember speaking to my dad and saying: ‘I don’t want to go, I’ve made up my mind.’ “But six days later Brendan had changed my view completely. I told my dad: ‘I don’t want to go anywhere else. I just want to go to Reading and work for him.’
“I enjoyed it. We only worked together for 13 or 14 months before he moved on to Chelsea but I enjoyed every day.
“It was something I always had in the back of my mind. Would I get the chance to work with him again?
“I had never even heard of Reading before I went there. I didn’t know where it was. I had to justify myself to Celtic fans who were family members.
“My uncle travels over almost every week and I had to explain to him that I was going to Reading, a Championship club on the outskirts of London, over Celtic. There weren’t too many boys who would have done that.
“It was purely down to Brendan. In the back of my mind I always thought that if I got the chance to work with him again I would jump at it.
“Everyone has their opinion of him in the Scottish game – and they are all right. He is brilliant to work for.
“It wasn’t so much what he said, it was just the way he was. I spent six days training with him. Just being in his company, going out for lunch, having a chat with him, changed my mind.”
This time, it took Rodgers just 30 seconds to sell him on the “complete package” on offer at Celtic
Hayes said: “As soon as Aberdeen gave Celtic permission, I spoke to Brendan and within 30 seconds I knew I wanted to come.
“I knew there might be a chance I was going down to England. My agent Barry Hughes had set a few things up for me and I could have gone.
“But as soon as Celtic became involved it was the only place I wanted to come. My heart was set on Celtic from the minute I spoke to the manager. He’s infectious. I’d been waiting all day for the phone call.
“It was about six or seven at night when he finally called. I don’t think I’d spoken a word in that first 30 seconds other than ‘hello’ and I was sold.
“It’s a long time since I worked with him but there are a lot of other major factors in wanting to come here. There’s the size of the club, the chance to play in front of 55,000, the chance to play in the Champions League.
“When you put it together, you realise it’s the complete package.”
As one of Scottish football’s outstanding talents over recent years, Hayes has earned the chance to parade his skills on the Champions League stage. It’s yet another twist of fate for a player who first came to prominence at Inverness seven years ago and Hayes admitted he dreaded a host of doomsday scenarios before the relief of signing on the dotted line.
The Irishman said: “There is a sense of achievement getting here but now I have signed I am excited. I really am looking forward to it.
“I can’t remember the last time I looked forward to coming back into pre-season. As soon as I got the all-clear with the medical and I knew it was happening I couldn’t wait to sign that piece of paper and get it confirmed.
“I started thinking: ‘What if something happens? What if, God forbid, I’m in a car crash or something?’ I wrapped
JONNY HAYES
myself in cotton wool for a few days until we got it over the line.
“I just want to get back on to the pitch and kick a ball about.”
Hayes bucks the trend of a player who live and breathes the game. He doesn’t have a subscription for Sky Sports and doesn’t watch games on TV.
As a kid he would much rather have a kick-about than cram around the telly in a city where being a Celtic fan was part of the culture.
He said: “I don’t watch football, I prefer to play it. I always had Celtic strips as a kid. Everyone supports Celtic with an English club on the side, apart from my dad. He was the only guy I knew who was more a Manchester United fan.
“I was never a massive football fan as a kid. I remember the World Cup Final was on in 1998 and everyone in the
GORDON PARKS