Articles

Johnny Russell Says We Didn’t Follow Up Our Interest In Him. On Balance, We Got That Right.

|
Image for Johnny Russell Says We Didn’t Follow Up Our Interest In Him. On Balance, We Got That Right.

I liked Johnny Russell. I always have.

When he was a Dundee Utd player I thought he was a certain signing for us.

He is a hard working player with a lot of great attributes, including his desire to win. He fights for everything and he had a happy knack of scoring goals in big games back when there was a team called Rangers playing in this country.

I thought it was a mistake when we allowed him to go to Derby. Tonight, an interview has surfaced where he confirms that we were interested and that we came very close to securing his signature. In the end though, when we heard what Derby had offered for him we didn’t choose to match the bid. We deemed it too much.

History suggests that we got that right.

Russell, who is now playing in America, was a big player at Derby, but he never did enough there to suggest that we made a mistake. He scored goals for them – 28 of them in 162 games – but that ratio would never have done in a Celtic shirt. It just wasn’t enough.

His ratio at Dundee Utd was one goal in every three games; that would have given us something to work with, and he was a player perfectly capable of playing out wide as well as up front, and he did spend time in that role at Derby, but he never really set the heather on fire there. He never looked like a Next Level footballer, which is a shame.

Johnny Russell is a die-hard Celtic man. He said in the interview that if we had matched Derby’s offer that it would have given him a “tough decision.” We all know it wouldn’t have been that tough. He would have signed for us in two seconds flat and I think he would have gone on to be a decent player for us … but not a great player. Not the player I once though.

I wish him well in America. He is well suited to the game over there and I am sure he’ll be a hit.

He is only 27. I think he has one more big career move in him. He is one of those guys who it’s impossible not to root for; he did it the hard way in his career, going out on loan and proving himself before cracking the Utd first team when he was still a young man.

I’m sure we’ve not heard the last of him.

Join the best Celtic Facebook Group there is right here.

Like our Facebook page and comment on and share the articles by clicking here.

You can also follow us on Twitter at @The_Celtic_Blog

Share this article