Liam Brady certainly got plenty of things wrong during his tenure as Celtic manager, with one of his main flaws being his poor judgement in the transfer market…
If he wasn’t signing players who weren’t of the required quality, he was shelling out a fortune in doing so.
During Brady’s era, the club weren’t exactly flush with cash, yet the Irishman who was a mere novice to the managerial game was allowed to spend what was considered a lot of money back then, especially under the biscuit tin era of the inept Kelly dynasty.
Brady’s record in the transfer market left a lot to be desired. £1.5 million on Stuart Slater, £1.1 million on Tony Cascarino, and just under a million on the player this article is dedicated to, Scottish international centre back Gary Gillespie.
Gillespie was a terrific experienced defender, who had played at the highest level for Liverpool winning a stack of honours as the Reds dominated English football. He was even named in a poll of the top 100 reds players of all time, but by the time he’d signed on the dotted line at Celtic Park, at 31 his best days where long behind him.
Former Rangers boss Graeme Souness would have been laughing his head off at the way he ripped off his old adversaries, by making a small fortune for a player who had well run his course.
Bonnybridge born Gary was a boyhood Celtic supporter, and ultimately jumped at the chance to sign for the club, with the reported £3,000 a week salary proving just as good as an incentive, in what would be his last ever big pay day as a footballer.
Things got off to a great start for Gary as he scored a terrific goal after just 9 minutes in a 4-1 home win over Falkirk, but it became increasingly apparent as the games wore on that Gary wasn’t a great fit for Brady’s Celtic side.
Gary was a terrific cultured ball playing defender in the days that they were few and far between. but what we needed was a hard as nails rough and ready type of centre back, and sadly Gary never possessed those qualities. He may have stood out in a superb Liverpool side, but this Celtic side, besides the talented duo of Paul McStay and John Collins was of a very poor standard.
Gary’s fitness levels weren’t exactly up to standard either, with years of draining and demanding games down south taking their toll, which showed in the amount of times he was missing from Celtic match day squads.
Gary Gillespie would make 80 appearances for the club in a three year stint, and although not the worst ever singing we’ve ever had, he was a costly expensive mistake at a time we could ill afford such a luxury.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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