Brown is my kind of player, insists Collins

JOHN COLLINS last night declared himself entirely at ease with the prospect of being reunited with Scott Brown at Celtic. Collins’ tenure as Hibernian boss ended in 2007 shortly after a dressing room containing the midfielder allegedly took their misgivings about their manager’s approach to chairman Rod Petrie’s door. Last week, however, Brown attempted to defuse any potential problem in a transatlantic call to manager Ronny Deila in which he told

the Norwegian he fully endorsed Collins’ impending appointment as his No 2. And yesterday Collins also declared there was no issue by detailing the ringing endorsement he gave Brown when Gordon Strachan inquired about him shortly before his £4.4million move to Celtic Park. ‘It’s important we nail that,’ Collins stated. ‘I never had any problems with Scott when I was Hibs manager. ‘He was brilliant for me and that’s why he got his big move to Celtic. ‘I actually played a little part in him coming here as Gordon asked me: ‘What’s the boy Brown like?’ ‘I gave Gordon a glowing reference and told him to make sure he didn’t miss out on him. To pay what it would take to get him as he was a top player. He’s my type of player. He trains properly and has developed into a leader and captain of Celtic. ‘Ronny asked me if there were any problems between myself and Scott and I told him there were no problems whatsoever.’ Finally unveiled as Deila’s assistant yesterday, Collins revealed he had rejected several advances to return to the front-line since leaving his role as Livingston’s director of football a year ago. The chance to return to Celtic Park 18 years after his departure for Monaco proved just too tempting though. ‘You always hope as a player when you leave such a big club, and great club, that one day you’ll come back,’ the 46-year-old added. ‘So, I’m delighted to be here. It’s a great opportunity. Coming to Celtic now is a different feeling than it was when I signed as a player. As a player, you are only thinking about yourself. ‘As a coach, you are thinking of everything. You are thinking about all of the players and the staff, about different training sessions. ‘I have had offers to come back in but it’s never been right.’ Meanwhile, Deila’s first game in charge of Celtic will come against Russian outfit FK Krasnodar on July 3 after the club confirmed details of their Austria tour. That friendly in Bad Wimbsbach will be followed by a visit to old foes Rapid Vienna three days later. They face Lask Linz on July 8 before completing their Austria stay with a July 11 game against Czech side Dukla Prague in Freistadt.