ODea: I missed the intensity of Celtic, this is where I want to succeed

Darren O'Dea is determined to show that he's got what it takes to make it at Celtic.

The defender has returned from a spell on the sidelines at Reading to become captain of Celtic during the toughest times of Tony Mowbray's reign.

Three years on from breaking into the first team the Dubliner is looking to use his current run in the team to cement his place in Mowbray's plans.

"It's good to be back at Celtic and back in the team," he said.

"When I was down at Reading I missed the intensity of it all, because playing for a club like Reading is different to life at a place like Celtic. It was good for me to get some games in with Reading but Celtic is the club I want to play for and the place I want to succeed, so I am happy to be back and in the team.

"Now my aim is to stay in the team and help the team win back the league title here. I have played in the last few games and been captain as well, that's a massive honour for me.

"When you see the legends who have been Celtic captain in the past, and there I am with the armband, it makes me very proud and makes me even more determined to succeed and prove to everyone that I deserve to be here.

"I spoke to Tony Mowbray when I came back from Reading a few weeks ago and he just said to get my head down and show him that I should be in the team.

"He has said that the best players will play; there are no favourites or agendas in his mind; he'll pick the strongest XI every week. Now I know that it's up to me to show I should be in there.

"I have to work hard in every game and in training every day to prove that I should be in the starting 11. As far as I am concerned I am here to stay for the season, there are no more loans planned, from what I know.

"I am in the team now, striving to stay in it and do as well as I can."

O'Dea's loan spell at Reading was intented to give him regular first team football to boost his long term prospects at Celtic.

Eight appearances during September and October came to a halt with the sacking of Brendan Rogers with a return to Celtic inevitable as soon as the transfer window re-opened.

O'Dea explained: "I am glad I went to Reading and I learned a lot about the game in the time I was there.

"Brendan Rogers was a great manager and a good bloke, but there are other people at the club who were bringing it down. Brendan was one of the good things about the club and I owe him a lot.

"It's just a pity that other people at the club were not helping, and I think Reading, as a club, will struggle until those people are gone.

"As a coach and a manager, Brendan taught me a lot and I still have a lot of time for him.

"I was moved around a bit when I was at Reading, I played centre-half and full-back. I had no problem with that, Reading had a few injuries and they needed people to fill in, so it wasn't a problem to play left back or right back.

"It was a good experience for me just to try something different. I've been at Celtic since I was 15 years old. I was 18 or 19 when I made my debut. I have been at the club all along and didn't have loan spells when I was younger, before I went to Reading.

"So to get out and go somewhere else, somewhere away from the goldfish bowl of life at Celtic, was good for me. I played eight games against good opposition and good players, maybe it should have gone better than it did, but I picked up a lot of experience there. I improved from working there."

Evening Herald article

Weather watch, the snow is lying on the streets of East Kilbride, six miles away from New Douglas Park

Youths face Motherwell on Saturday

Celtic's table-topping under-19 side return to action on Saturday with an away match against Motherwell at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium.

The 11 o'clock kick off will allow anyone going along to the match the chance to watch most of the first team match at Hamilton which kicks-off at 12.30.

Celtic start the second half of the season two points clear of Hamilton and enjoyed a 4-1 win over the Fir Park side earlier in the season.

It's six weeks since the u-19's last outing but the break has been put to good use by Stevie Frail and his coaching team.

Frail explained: "Since the snow cleared we've been able to have two weeks full training and the boys are looking sharp.

"We've managed to get a few players back from injury and we're looking forward to playing again.

"Ideally you want to have a good balance between training and playing, we've spent a lot of time on the training ground and now we've got the chance to get back into action.

"We managed to get a couple of games in down south and they went well, now we're looking to pick up where we left off."

In the last eight of the SFA Youth Cup Celtic travel to Tannadice to meet Dundee United on February 14 with the kick-off time still to be confirmed.

SPL u-19 table

More strange refereeing decisions in a strange season

As Andreas Hinkel said after the recent draw with Falkirk there have been a lot of strange decisions against Celtic this season.

Continuing that theme tonight was another below par performance from Iain Brines littered with puzzling decisions which all went one way.

Tony Mowbray is responsible for the problems and failings of the Celtic team such as why Artur Boruc allowed a striker a free header in the six yard box from a corner and how Georgios Samaras manages to head over the bar from similar distances.

Mowbray's future rests on decisions like that.

Brines however appears answerable to no-one although it's no surprise that he no longer gets matches from UEFA and that Scottish referees will be watching the World Cup and later stages of the Champions League on television.

Throughout the entire match Brines gave puzzling decisions culminating in disallowing a 'goal' from Darren O'Dea just before half time.

From his vantage point outside the penalty box he disallowed the 'goal' without any appeal or claim coming from the Hibs players.

Earlier on he had penalised Samaras for nothing more than an ordinary challenge on Graeme Hogg that allowed the striker to turn the Hibs captain and head for goal.

Into the second half and Paul Hanlon flies into a two footed 'challenge' on Andreas Hinkel and escapes without as much as a word in his ear from the now lenient Brines.

There were no other dangerous fouls from the Hibs players but they could put in fouls in telling areas knowing that there was no prospect of a booking with Brines content to award a free-kick without even speaking to the offender.

Celtic's finishing was woeful with a number of chances created and missed, these matters are for Mowbray to address and be held responsible for.

With Celtic pushing forward for the winner substitute Ki Sung Yeung was fouled 25 yards from goal but rather than get a last chance from a set piece Brines waved play on.

Hibs quickly fed the ball to Anthony Stokes who pushed it into the path of substitute Danny Galbraith whose low shot across Boruc found the corner of the net.

An evening of strange decisions in a strange season from our match officials.

As Hinkel said after the draw with Falkirk: “As a player you give your best, but here, week after week, there is something happening.

“It's not really my thing to say something about referees but once again we had some strange decisions. Not just the penalty- look at the situation when Artur had a free-kick given against him.

“It hurts when we don't take chances but it just seems to be one thing after another at the moment.”

Could the Derry Pele be Celtic's Solskjaer?

by Joe McHugh Will there ever be a solution to the Paddy McCourt debate?

The 26-year-old scored his third goal of the season at St Johnstone on Sunday without having completed a full ninety minutes for the club- a Boydesque scoring record to most folk.

Is Paddy destined to be an impact player, formerly known as super-sub, or can he evolve into a 90 minute man that his manager can trust?

There are very few super-subs around even in these days of squad rotation with players moving on as soon as they fall out of the first team picture.

Only Ole Gunar Solskjaer fitted the bill, happy in his role as regular substitute and coming on to turn the course of matches.

Over half of the Norwegian's appearances for Manchester United were as a substitute as he helped himself to 128 goals before being forced into retirement through injury.

McCourt is well into his second season at Celtic and is no longer the enigma that scored wonder goals on a monthly basis for last season's reserve side.

Back-to-back goals against Falkirk and St Mirren early in the season added to the picture as his dribbling skills- and goalscoring ability- were brought to the attention of a larger audience.

Tony Mowbray tried to sign McCourt for West Brom and has given him five starts this season.

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Deciding where to play McCourt seems as much of an issue as getting 90 minutes out of him however as we saw on Sunday 30 minutes of quality is much more useful than 90 minutes of needless running around.

Is he a winger, would he be best playing behind the strikers or more effective coming from a deep midfield position?

Mowbray is a manager who puts an emphasis on skill and flair and is clearly willing McCourt to succeed but equally unsure over his fitness and reliability.

As a compromise having a substitute that glides effortlessly past tiring defenders and who knows how to find the net could be a priceless weapon.

Mowbray has often spoken about developing players by working on them at the training ground. The gymnasium is probably where McCourt needs to work on hardest although it's unlikely that any amount of gym work could transform him into the new Didier Agathe.

Equally no amount of time on the training ground improved Agathe's crossing or passing although his naked pace was used effectively throghout Martin O'Neill's time at the club.

With three SPL games coming up in the next seven days we're unlikely to get any answers in the short term.

As a squad player McCourt could be invaluable in a tight battle for the championship- even if he never gets around to completing 90 minutes in a Celtic jersey.

Evening Herald report on St Johnstone match

Feel free to add your comments and thoughts on Paddy below