Coaching role for Hartson
Happy Hopkin says Hartson will make huge impact at Livi
Livingston head coach David Hopkin says he jumped at the chance to add John Hartson to his coaching staff — and hopes the former Celtic striker can play a huge role at the club.
The Welshman will help coach the strikers at the Championship club and Hopkin is confident the 42-year-old, who boasts Arsenal and West Ham United amongst the clubs he represented during an illustrious playing career, can pass on his vast knowledge to the young group of attackers.
The head coach commented: “It’s a big coup for the club to get someone of John’s stature in the game on board.
“I spoke to him last week and he was keen to get back into football. Obviously he has all of his media duties, but he’s got some free days during the week.
“We spoke about it together and it was something that we were able to work out.
“If someone who has played at that level of football and achieved what he has in the game wants to help you out, then you try to find a way to bring him on board.”
He added: “He’ll be working one or two days a week and pass on his knowledge to the strikers.
“I’m sure he’ll have a great influence on my strikers and help improve their game.
“Anything that makes this club and my players better is something that we have to look at — and adding John to the staff does that.”
Hartson, who netted over 100 goals during his stint for Celtic, began work on Tuesday and revealed he was already in the bad books after being fined for leaving his dirty socks on the dressing room floor.
But he admits he loved taking his first session, saying: “One of the reasons I decided to come here was to work with such a young group. If I can help and improve some of these boys, then that’s the goal for me.
“The lads took on board things like not getting in too soon. When you are a striker you’re easy to mark if you arrive too early in the box. Things like that and saving your runs until the last moment are all tips I got early in my career.
“At Celtic, Paul Lambert, Neil Lennon and Stan Petrov played the ball to me in a way I could step off the defender to receive it. These little things were worked out at training.
“We want to take these youngsters to the highest level and it’s improving the small things that will get them there.”