The Rover's Return

Irishman Darren O’Dea has been around a bit since he left Celtic, with Canada, Ukraine and India among his passport stamps – but now he is back where it all began to take up the role of Under-18 manager

DARREN O’Dea made a welcome return to Paradise last week as the former Celt was appointed manager of the Hoops Under-18 side. The Irishman came through the Celtic Academy himself and scored six goals in 70 appearances for the club while also having loan spells at Reading, Ipswich Town and Leeds United before moving on to play for Toronto, Metalurh Donetsk, Blackpool, Mumbai City and Dundee.

He said: “I’m delighted, honoured to be brought back in, obviously in a completely different capacity to when I was here before. There’s an enormous pride with it. I’m feeling all this responsibility and pressure, but it’s a challenge that I’m really looking forward to.

“I was a player, but it’s completely different now. I came in, presumably to meet a lot of meant-to-be new faces, but a lot of them aren’t. The welcome I’ve had back, it feels like coming home. It’s where I grew up and it’s where I spent the largest part of my career.

“I was here as a young guy developing into a man, and I ended up going and having a career elsewhere as well, but Celtic is what I owe the most to, and the foundations and principles I was taught here guided me throughout my career, and will probably guide me in my coaching career as well.”

On giving up the playing side of his career, the 32-year-old moved into coaching at the end of last season with Motherwell, but, like Stephen McManus, made the move from Fir Park back to where his career began – but he didn’t just take up coaching on a whim.