Willo Flood is waiting patiently.

By Joe McHugh

Willo Flood is certainly a straight talker, he calls things as he sees them and doesn't hide behind cliches to keep his thoughts to himself.

WILLO FLOOD INTERVIEW

I spoke to him after the 2-0 win over Spurs at Wembley, there was a good feeling around at the time after watching a virtual Celtic reserve side beat the Premiership side playing good open football to build on the 5-0 win two days earlier against Egypt's Al Ahly.

It's impossible to discuss anything relating to the second half of last season without getting depressed, it was bad enough for supporters but even worse for Flood who saw his season come to a grinding halt arriving at Celtic at precisely the time they started throwing the SPL title away.

STRACHAN

Flood was open and honest about things, at times last season he was p***ed off as he put it but despite the disappointments he was earnest in his praise for Gordon Strachan which I found quite surprising.

"The experience of last season will help me. I worked under a good manager in Gordon Strachan and learned a lot from him even though I wasn't playing.

His coaching was very good so I'm glad that I signed when I did and played under him."

Flood could have made a quick reference to Strachan and given it the 'that's all in the past and I'm looking to the future' line but genuinely seemed to have benefited from being at Celtic last season despite starting just two games.

At Dundee United he was an impressive combative midfielder despite his slight build, hard in the tackle with an eye to get forward.

ROBSON

There was no obvious place waiting for him at Celtic but he looked like the type of player that could be relied upon to put in a good shift at a stage in the season where an extra edge may be needed, the sort of role that Barry Robson fulfilled perfectly the previous season.

In reality that never happened, despite the decline in results and injury-hampered performances of Scott Brown and Shunsuke Nakamura there was no place for Flood who struggled to get a place on the bench with the under-21 rule working against him.

The reincarnation of Massimo Donati, and to a lesser extent Chris Killen, has given Flood and others hope.

Tony Mowbray sees keen to use his squad as he's shown by the imaginative use of substitutes in both legs against Dynamo Moscow.

TACTICAL

Scott McDonald and Mac-Antoine Fortune started both games and were replaced in tactical moves in both games. In the first leg those moves never paid off, in Moscow they did so spectacularly.

Flood and others have to hope that they will get that chance AND that they are ready to take it.

These days at Celtic there is no time to introduce players and give them time, it's sink or swim with no room for sentiment.

McDonald forced his way into the side when there was four or five other strikers in contention for a place, for whatever reasons Derek Riordan's Celtic career never got started.

Flood is a hardy type, dedicated and honest. He knows how difficult it is to break in and stay in the Celtic side but with six months behind him at the club he's better placed to make his mark than when he first arrived.

Competition in central midfield is fierce with Landry N'Guemo, Donati and Marc Crosas all competiting for two places as well as Flood.

WILLO FLOOD INTERVIEW

Sunderland's Andy Reid 'knows the history'

by Joe McHugh

Sunderland's Andy Reid slipped in and out of Celtic Park on Saturday almost un-noticed but I had the pleasure of interviewing him after the match.

ANDY REID INTERVIEW

It's hardly a surprise to hear a player talking enthusiastically about Celtic but sometimes you wonder how genuine they are, not Reid.

Born and brought up in Dublin he clearly 'knows the history' around Celtic and spoke glowingly about the club and Celtic Park.

Reid is a professional, playing in the best paid league in the country, and sensibly didn't come up with any nonsense about an overwhelming desire to move to the SPL.

Instead one line stuck in my mind when I asked him about Celtic.

“It's a special place for me. Even when the ground is empty you look around and it's special. The history and meaning of the club, what's behind it is special to me."

As Celtic rummage around looking for signings, most likely from The Championship, it was good to hear that the club still stands out with special qualities which can sometimes be overlooked in the frenzied days of transfer windows.

Speaking with Reid was interesting as was the attitude of the Sunderland supporters. Paying their respects to Bobby Robson, clearly associated very closely to Newcastle, could have been difficult for some of them but they rose above local rivalries to pay tribute to Robson.

When they started singing Robson's name during the minute's applause it was impressive and genuine.

That wasn't a token mark of respect, as the game ended the visiting supporters again chanted Robson's name.

Paying respect is a difficult task in the modern era, respecting the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Crash was done with trepidation in Manchester as United met City. I could never see Celtic or Rangers supporters chanting the name of someone from the other side no matter how well respected they may be in the game.

Saturday's match was hardly memorable for Celtic but the attitude and professionalism of Sunderland was impressive.

ANDY REID INTERVIEW