YOU’LL LOVE TO HATE ME
Kazim-Richards’ pledge to rival fans
COLIN KAZIM-RICHARDS insists he will be the man rival fans love to hate after sealing a two-and-a-half-year deal at Celtic.
The 29-year- old Turkey striker completed his switch from Feyenoord to make it a deadline-day double for the Parkhead club, who also finalised an 18-month loan for Manchester City youngster Patrick Roberts while allowing Nadir Ciftci to depart on a season-long deal to Eskisehirspor.
Kazim-Richards had been suspended for two weeks by the Rotterdam outfit following a bustup with a journalist who questioned his attitude.
The London-born player claims, however, that the bad-boy reputation which has followed him through spells of his career stems from his
on-field approach and doesn’t match his true personality.
‘I think it’s because of the way I play,’ said Kazim-Richards after being unveiled last night. ‘When I play for your team, you love me. When I play against you, you hate me. ‘All the coaches will hate me. All the other fans will hate me. Because I don’t give a second’s r est to the defenders. I will run into and do whatever needs to be done to win the game. ‘Because of that, people think you carry that off the pitch. I know some guys who don’t talk off the pitch, who are real laid-back guys. But when they go on the pitch, they are animals.
‘ You don’t hear ( Brazilian midfielder) Felipe Melo at home. When he gets on that pitch, he is a beast.
‘That is like me. When I get on the pitch, I am going there to win, entertain my fans and ultimately get three points.
‘But that’s not me when I’m at home. My daughter is painting my toenails and putting stuff in my hair. My son is jumping all over me and I’m changing nappies. I’m doing normal things.
‘Because of the type of player I am, people outside the club I’m at like to put on certain things. That comes with the job, which is sad, but I can’t change it.
‘Do I feed off it? Of course I do. I play better when the other team’s fans are booing me. I know I am doing something right then.
‘You’ll see it in my celebrations when I score. I enjoy it because I’m a football fan.’
Asked whether he f elt the incident with the Dutch journalist had portrayed him in a bad light, Kazim-Richards added: ‘There are three sides to a story: this side, that side and the truth.
‘It’s done. I’m a Celtic player and it has no relevance to the future. There were issues before anything happened and it just got to a point where me and Feyenoord didn’t want to continue working together. So we had to find a solution.’
Celtic is the 11th club in KazimRichards’ career, which includes spells at Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Olympiakos. However, he insisted he cannot wait to help Ronny Deila’s side recover from the end of their Treble ambitions.
‘This is one of the most exciting opportunities by far,’ he added. ‘Celtic is a big team. This was a no-brainer. When Celtic came up I was like: “Is this for real?”.
‘I had a conversation with the manager and sat on it for a day in Rotterdam, pestering my agent.
‘I think my frustrations will come out in a good way on the pitch. I have been at a few big clubs but they have had no plan or ambition. But Celtic told me this is what’s going on and I said: “Right, let’s go then”.’
The addition of Kazim-Richards left Ciftci out in the cold. The £1.5million signing from Dundee United travelled to Turkey yesterday to seal a deal with Eskis ehirsp or. Promising youngster Aidan Nesbitt also exited on loan, moving across Glasgow to join Partick Thistle.
Roberts, meanwhile, insists playing an active part in trying to help Celtic reach the Champions League is better than sitting in the stand while City attempt to win the tournament.
The 18-year- old, who made an £11m move from Fulham to the Etihad, said: ‘It’s all good and well City going on to win the Champions League, but if you’re not involved it doesn’t mean as much.
‘Here, I could be a hero winning things. To come here and win a league medal is much more important to me than sitting in the stands watching City win.
‘The length of contract here is because the manager wants to plan for Europe and I want to play in Europe, too.’