Former Celtic Assistant Manager Chris Davies has spoken about moving to Paradise in 2016. The former Liverpool coach was hired by Brendan Rodgers when he became the manager in May 2019. The Irishman took Davies with him when he alighted for Leicester City in February 2019 and since they left the Premier League club last month, he is reflecting on the hectic seven years that have passed.
Speaking to The Coaches’ Voice, Davies spoke about his career and following Rodgers to The Scottish Champions, where they replaced Ronny Deila and John Collins.
“Brendan got in touch again only a few months later, to say he wanted me as his assistant at Celtic. They paid to release me from my contract, and I moved my family up to Glasgow. There aren’t many places in the world that can rival Glasgow for the intensity of its passion for football, which made it some experience.
“The first season we got there was Rangers’ first back in the Scottish Premiership, and there was a lot of expectation around them.
“But we were totally dominant. Celtic were a team that were used to dominating, but we were able to take their control of games a step further. We went the entire domestic season unbeaten, completing what they called the ‘invincible treble’. We won all three trophies without losing a single game.
“The next season, we won the treble again. And, when we left towards the end of the following campaign, we were on course to win it again. The team won it after we’d gone.
“The expectation there was immense. I did a press conference after a draw away to Inverness, and I heard the words ‘crisis’ and ‘panic’ used in the questions. The level of scrutiny was really high, but to be honest I liked it because I thought it was fair. It was aligned with reality.
“The expectation was to win every game, and I enjoyed that.
It was an excellent period in the club’s history with Brendan and Davies forcing Premier League standards on the club that had potentially slid during the years that Rangers were absent from the league. Players were also improved and a brand of attractive, winning football was adopted.
Rodgers was at the Celtic helm for two and a half years. The ex-Liverpool manager won seven trophies in a row, an Invincible Treble, a 69-game unbeaten run and numerous other successes before being replaced by Neil Lennon when he left for Leicester in February 2019.
It seems like Chris is trying to get back into the good books of Celtic fans. While it wasn’t him who lied to the Celtic fans and ran away to a pub team for money, he ran away too!
Forget it Chris, you aren’t forgiven either.