Two years after returning to Celtic as an Under 18s coach former Celtic defender Darren O’Dea has been given a promotion by the club and will now move up to assist Tommy McIntyre in coaching the Celtic B side, which is finding its feet in its first season in the Lowland League.
With the squad weakened through international call-ups the Lowland League games had to proceed with younger players being drafted in the get their first taste of football at the higher level against seasoned professionals. Quite literally men against admittedly very talented Bhoys.
And Ange Postecoglou amid his own recent injury crisis has been forced to pinch a few bodies from the B team to sit on the Celtic bench, so it’s not been easy so far for McIntyre’s troops.
Bringing in Darren O’Dea seems a shrewd move and one that can only help these young stars of the future. The former Republic of Ireland international defender has had three weeks under his belt with the B team so has had a chance to get to know the challenges the team faces and the players that are looking to make a name for themselves in the game.
Speaking to the official Celtic FC website, O’Dea gave an update on his new role at the club. “I really enjoyed the last two years and working with the Under-18s was fantastic, but the offer to come up and obviously the change in scenery – in terms of from working at Celtic Park with the U18s and now at Lennoxtown – has been brilliant,” the 34 year old said.
“A lot of the change with the players hasn’t been huge because the vast majority I have worked for some sort of period with the 18s, some of them for longer than others, so the players know me and I certainly know them.
“Pivotal to the role here is the access you get to how the first-team work and getting to see that daily, and being around them, albeit I’m not working directly with them.
“But you get a lot of access and that’s part of the job I suppose – being up and around and seeing how things work, and that has been invaluable to me. In taking this role, I had the full intention of maximising every bit of information I could get and every learning experience I could get, and the manager’s been fantastic with everyone.’
“I can only speak from a personal point of view, but he’s been brilliant, and any time I’ve needed anything or wanted to ask a question, he’s very accommodating and very clear. So it’s been fantastic as a young coach to learn from that.
“And I have to mention John Kennedy in that as well because John’s obviously been here for the just over two years I’ve been in and any time I’ve gone to John for a bit of advice or an opinion, or even just a conversation, you always get tenfold what you expect back.”
O’Dea, himself a product of the Celtic youth system, gave an interesting insight into what young players go through as the make their way in the game at these early stages.
“When the players first come, of course they’ve got big aspirations and they want to conquer the world, if you like but the reality really hits when you come up to Lennoxtown – you’re one pitch away from the first-team at all times.
“The first-team regularly dip into the B team for training numbers. It usually happens before training but it can happen during training, so they don’t know when the opportunity is going to come, and that realisation of all the talk we did when they were 16 and they first came in, and the big dreams they had – they’re much closer than what they maybe understand.
“They have to be in a rhythm of training every day and being prepared right. I don’t think you’ll get a better example of that than last year with the whole reserve team going up for a two-week period.
“Now the person who’s stayed there since then is Adam Montgomery. He’s never come back but if you went and watched him train two or three months previous to that and then a month previous to that, he was just constantly in a rhythm of training, doing the right things and when that opportunity came in the most bizarre circumstances, he was there to take advantage of it.
“So it’s a key message for them – those dreams you’re talking about, albeit the step is absolutely huge, it might not be as far away as you think.”
Next up for the Celtic B team is a game next Monday against Cumbernauld Colts as the Lowland League resumes after a short break.
O’Dea is enthusiastic about the move for the Celtic Colts team to move into this league, after the controversy surrounding it was resolved. “It’s been fantastic and really beneficial for the players to have a consistent games programme and a rhythm of playing games,” he explained.
Brilliant to see @odea_darren progressing at @CelticFC to his new role as @CelticFCB coach after agreeing a new contract earlier this month. Congratulations Daz. 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/2heBpjqY4O
— Deadline Day Soccer Group (@DeadlineDay_SG) October 20, 2021
“We went through a period of playing multiple games in a week which doesn’t happen very often in youth team or reserve football, so to play Wednesday-Saturday and have to recover again for the next Wednesday is fantastic experience in itself.
“And then the different type of teams you come up against, with many players who’ve had experience of playing at the top level of Scottish football, younger players, different styles of play, different pitches, different stadiums, different environments – all these thing are key in a player’s development.
“As a I coach, I take satisfaction from seeing the team function as a team but, ultimately, what I’m massive on after a game is individuals – what individuals stood out, and if the manager or John Kennedy came to the game, would they be impressed in these players playing in the way that the manager has the team playing.”
Great to chat about my new role @CelticFC as B team coach. https://t.co/6R02lApnVA
— Darren O’Dea (@odea_darren) October 20, 2021
