It was a Cel’ of a culture shock

WHEN JACKIE McNamara left Celtic for Wolves after 10 years, four SPL titles, three SFA Cups and one

UEFA Cup final appearance, one of the biggest challenges he faced was the expectations at his new side.

“It’s a different mindset, and I think that’s something I had to get my head around going there,” said the former defender, who was at Celtic between 1995 and 2005.

“Even when I was signing, Molineux is a nice stadium, but the guy showing me around the stands said, “You can get 29,000 in there, what did you get last week at Celtic?’.

“I told him there were 54,000 at my testimonial. He just kind of looked at me. It was double their capacity.

“My first game for Wolves was down at Southampton and we drew 0-0.

“It wasn’t a bad match, but in my mind, from where I’d been with Celtic, we’d just dropped two points, whereas some of the lads were going, ‘That’s a good draw away from home’.

“I was used to having to win every week, so it was tough to adjust.

I found that quite difficult.”

McNamara has long had to put up with criticism from Celtic fans over his departure but has used his autobiography to put forward his side of the story.

“When I left Celtic it was quite a big thing at the time. I’d just had my testimonial so people thought I was like, thanks for the testimonial, see you later,” he said. “But that wasn’t the case.

Contract

“I hadn’t really said anything about leaving. I had my 10 years, then Martin O’Neill left and Gordon (Strachan) came in.

“I was out of contract along with Neil Lennon, and a few other boys got sorted.

“I was waiting for them to sort it and it was the middle of June before we got anywhere. I signed for Wolves, I think it was June 14, and my daughter, my third child, was born on June 17.

“So it was a lot to deal with and a lot of disruption for the family. But in football it’s very difficult to plan anything the way you want it.”