OFF WITH A ROY SMILE
Departure to be confirmed tomorrow Desmond to get his man What next for O’Neill’s Ireland?
ROY KEANE has spent recent days mulling over the merits and minuses of agreeing to become the manager of Celtic. Efe Ambrose will be hoping the Irishman doesn’t dwell too much on the immediate challenges of the job, should the lure of Parkhead prove too strong for him to resist.
For Ambrose would disapprove of disruption, were Keane’s headstrong views on tackling his next big career task to include a desire to institute great change.
And the Nigerian defender, now in Philadelphia on the latest leg of his country’s World Cup warm-up programme, has stressed his own readiness to return from international duty committed to staying to help Celtic seal a place among the European elite.
‘Neil has laid the foundations for Celtic,’ said Ambrose. ‘I believe we played better football this season than the year before. We had a great run in the league. It was just disappointing in Europe not to make the knockout stages. I believe, if the players stay, we’ll have an even better season than the last one.’
Celtic are braced for English interest in Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster but it’s stability, and not a shake-up, which Ambrose is hoping for over the close season from the fiery Keane – if he takes over the hot seat.
‘Nobody has expressed a desire to leave, so there shouldn’t be any concern just now – only belief. We must focus on being a team. I talk to Virgil and Fraser all the time. We chat on what’s happening and they have been enjoying their vacation or, in Fraser’s case, concentrating on the World Cup.
‘Virgil has not mentioned leaving and we’re all looking forward to returning and preparing for the Champions League qualifiers.
‘I never think of [leaving]. My agenda is being a Celtic player and playing for Celtic.
‘In football, good players go and better players come in. I won’t accept anyone is leaving until it happens.
‘I don’t know what changes can happen but what I do know is that the new manager will have good, young players who are hungry for success and want the club to move forward.
‘That means Champions League football, which is coming up soon. I can’t imagine a season without Champions League because there is so much great hope for us to be in the group stages.
‘We’ve done it in the last few years and we know what we need to do to get there.’
Keane’s playing and managerial careers have witnessed examples of struggle working alongside colleagues he perceives as lacking the toughness he exhibited and expected of others. He infamously trashed team-mates in Manchester United’s 2005 vintage for ‘a shortage of characters’ after one defeat to Middlesbrough around the bitter end of his time at Old Trafford.
Ambrose, however, would be surprised if Keane was unimpressed with the mentality already in place at Celtic Park.
‘If you are not strong enough to be at Celtic, then it will be difficult for you to cope because of the pressure,’ said the defender. ‘My colleagues with Nigeria and other players can think it’s just an easy league for Celtic to win.
‘But I always tell them: “No. It’s different because we are a big club and everyone believes we have to win all the time”.
‘That is a big responsibility. It’s a challenge for a player. Sometimes you must balance it out, make sure you are right in the head.
‘If you don’t have the right players, the right team and the right manager, then you will never win a game. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, if you do not have the right attitude and mentality, you will never win. Neil Lennon showed us what winning really means to the club and the fans. So the players at Celtic gave him everything.’
Ambrose faces former colleague Georgios Samaras and Greece on Tuesday in a friendly ahead of Nigeria’s trip to Brazil 2014, where they will meet Argentina, Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The stage is set for the World Cup but Ambrose has promised to return in ideal condition for the mid-July start to Celtic’s European season.
‘I don’t know the new manager’s plans but I’ll be ready as soon as he wants me,’ declared Ambrose. ‘I never complain. I just enjoy playing.’