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Nir Bitton

Discussion in 'Ex Players' started by ILoveTheCeltic, Aug 28, 2013.

Discuss Nir Bitton in the Ex Players area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Lilac Wine

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    When he was on form he was very good. Great one touch passer of the ball and could stick a good header in as he proved in Malmo.

    Bitton Busquets he was in that link up midfield role. I liked him but inconsistency was the problem I think but aye I would honestly welcome him back, get a bit nostalgic thinking of a few players in that team, Johansen's corners, he was another he started off well. He wouldn't get a game now,

    I hope Griff gets well soon cause the goals he scored in that game were just brilliant, the range of quality and sheer audacity of his finishing is outrageous. Takes a good corner too. We need a corner kick coach.
     
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  2. Solidsnake

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    would love to see the big man back in the celtic midfield. Nir got a hard time due to his stint at cb. i always thought he was a solid and experienced midfield enforcer on his day with a beast of a shot. was a bit lazy and uninterested at times but nowhere near as bad as ntcham. bitton was highly rated within the game and i hope brendan shows him the respect that he is due.
     
  3. oh bhoy

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    Nir got a hard time due to his stint in the idf.good passer
     
  4. Solidsnake

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    ah i see, well im not a bigot or a hypocrite. celtic fc a club open to all:yeah:
     
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  5. KRS-1888 Scott La Rock

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    Everyone should be more like you.

    #CelticFamily
     
  6. Keano88

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    This news is like a new signing.

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  7. Xatraps Gold Member Gold Member

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    Fixed that for you ;)
     
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  8. World Champion

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    Seems like he's been oot for years.
     
  9. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    AFTER a year on the sidelines following knee surgery, Nir Bitton is delighted to be back fit and back training. Keen to put a challenging year behind him, he’s now desperate to get back playing on the pitch.

    And he’s not fussed about where that takes him – be that in his preferred central-midfield role, providing cover at centre-back, or even, should the manager require it, between the sticks!

    “As a professional, you have to adapt yourself to any position the gaffer wants you to play,” the 27-year-old told this week's Celtic View. “For myself, I just want to play. If I need to play centre-midfield, I’ll play centre-midfield. If I need to play centre-back, I’ll play centre-back. If I need to play goalkeeper, I’ll play goalkeeper. I’d love to pull on the gloves!

    “Anything the gaffer wants, I’ll try to do my best to help the team. That’s always my main target.”

    Nir Bitton's lack of football for much of 2018 left him naturally frustrated, but he’s been nevertheless delighted to see the impact players like Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie have had on the team during the campaign – both domestically and in Europe.

    Having played in in a number of different positions, Bitton admires the versality that McGregor has shown in all areas of the field this season – having played on the left-side of midfield, sitting deep in the anchor/controller role, and even having slotted in at left-back in place of the injured Kieran Tierney.

    “It’s always good to be able to play in different positions,” said Bitton. “Callum is an unbelievable player, and Ryan is an unbelievable talent as well. When you’re a good player, it doesn’t matter where you play. If you’re a good player, you’re a good player.

    “Callum has shown his quality on so many occasions, all over the pitch. If it’s at left-midfield, left-back, centre-mid, defensive-mid – he’s such a great player.

    “When I was injured, I had a few chats the manager. He tried to lift my spirits, and he tried to help me during my injury any way that he could. He’s a good guy, he’s a good manager, he’s a good human being. But it wasn’t only the manager, it was all the staff, all the medical team, and my teammates.

    "Honestly, it was everyone around me. It was a tough injury, and I’m so lucky and happy to have so many people around me to support me.”
     
    Lilac Wine likes this.
  10. honda Gold Member Gold Member

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    Aw * who's gonna keep Marvin company now.
     
  11. Jeremie Frimpong

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    It feels like I have been reading about his return for months now. When did he start training again?
     
  12. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    NIR Bitton beams, there is no other word for it, as he bounces, which is again the right description, across the foyer of his team hotel.

    It’s good to see you guys,” says the Israeli to the small but perfectly formed band of Scottish newspaper men. It looks like he almost means it as he sakes us all warmly by the hand.

    Bitton is back. At long last. After eleven months of tears, fears and a realisation of what is really important in his life following a knee injury he believed was minor but in fact it had him thinking that he’d kicked a ball for the last time.


    Even press duties, which was never were his favourite way to spend half an hour, are now a treat.

    Celtic supporters may have forgotten how good a player the midfielder is when fit, which he wasn’t long before he decided to get to the bottom of his problem. His return is a welcome boost.

    Bitton has been through a lot over the past year but is has been training again and while the sharpness isn’t there, he will be, as Brendan Rodgers said, like a new signing when he does get back to full fitness.

    “I feel I’ve just started my career now,” Bitton says, unable to keep the smile from his face. “It’s been a long time, eleven months, and when you are out for that time you realise that you have to appreciate every minute you spend on the pitch.

    “I remember I had a meeting with a specialist guy in London and I went there not even thinking about the possibility of a serious injury or surgery. I thought I was just going for his opinion on how to get rid of the swelling and stuff.

    And then he looked at my scan and said, ‘you need to be out for nine to 12 months.’

    “I started to cry. I phoned my wife straight away and said to her, ‘I think you need to look for a job, I’m finished. I cried and I couldn’t control it. For me this is the thing I like to do most.

    “People on the outside might not understand that. But to us playing football is everything and when you are not playing sometimes at least you are healthy

    You sit there watching your teammates doing well, winning games and trophies and you know you are not part of it and can’t do anything about it. You need to be mentally strong.

    ‘You need to focus on your rehab and get your session done. ‘It’s been a really tough time.”

    Bitton was of course in the best of hands in terms of the knee. But what happens in the head is not so easily treated.

    He’s a hard man to read is the 27-year-old but he didn’t hold back when describing how difficult it was to cope with being out and with months still to go of his rehabilitation.

    He admitted: “Physically it was tough but mentally it was an even bigger challenge. It’s the first long term injury and you don’t know what to expect.

    “You don’t know what challenges lie in wait and there are so many mental things going on behind the scenes. You just try to stay focussed and stay calm and surround yourself with good people who always support you whatever it takes.”

    Did he really think his career was over?

    “Well....you always have these thoughts when you get a long-term injury. You don’t know what to expect, you don’t know what you are getting into. But I had good medical staff at Celtic who supported me and guided me.

    “The surgeon was good. We had a few meetings with him through the rehab and he was always very positive.

    “Put the money aside and this is what we love to do most. You can ask any athlete you like. When you finish your career it’s not the same. It doesn’t matter how much money you earn or how many big houses you have or how good a life you live.



    When you can’t do something you like it’s just depressing and it makes you think the worst. A lot of people from the outside look and think, ‘ah they earn good money, they have a great life...

    “Sometimes it’s not like that.”

    Bitton believes he will return a better player and he is also a better person after a year which forced him to do a bit of thinking about life itself.

    It will be interesting to see how these manifests itself on the park but what’s clear is that his outlook on the world has been changed.

    Bitton said: “Of course. Before I got this injury and felt like this I would see people hurt themselves or get sick and injured and if I’m honest I didn’t think too much about it. You feel sorry for them of course. But you don’t really feel it.

    “It’s only when you get something like this yourself that you see that these other people are warriors. Around Christmas time we as players always go to hospital to see the children lying there fighting for their life. I appreciate now that these kids are the strongest people in the world.

    “After this injury I start to appreciate the small things in life now .I see these boys and girls there unwell and I appreciate life itself. In one second you can lose everything and it won’t come back.


    These guys, for me, are an inspiration. They should be an inspiration to everyone.”

    Bitton has a two-year-old daughter Alice and son Tom is only a few months old. And now they will get the chance to see their old man kick a football.

    He said: “Getting back on the pitch will be emotional for me, it will be emotional for my family. They have been part of it with me and suffered a lot in the first few months.

    ‘I appreciate all their help and they deserve it. My two year old daughter Emma is too young to understand it all now.

    ‘But she is starting to realise. She has watched a few Celtic games this season and I have a neighbour called Tom Rogic so she watches him on television and she’s like ‘goal, goal....

    “She will be excited to see her daddy playing on the pitch and I want to make her proud….I better go now because I’m going to cry again.”
     
  13. Phillyhoopsfan

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    I always respected his professionalism. He recognized this is a big club and he didn’t groan when he was asked to play CB. I hope he gets some playing time.
     
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  14. Celtic Bhoy 94

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    I’ve never been his biggest fan but I’m actually looking forward to seeing the big man back
     
  15. eire4

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    It will be good to have him back for the second half of the season. Not sure how much of a contribution he will be ready to make given how long he has been out injured. But when on his game he has been a very decent player for us so hopefully he is able to get back to that kind of level for us over the next few months.
     
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  16. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    BR: “It's great for Nir Bitton as well. He’s been out for almost a year so for him to come on and get 10 minutes was fantastic.”
     
  17. bhoy_wonder Gold Member Gold Member

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    Big Niro is back :shamrock::yeah:
     
  18. Lecs

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    Will be good to have him back actually. Good big player. If Brendan can develop him he can become a star. I just want to see him be a bit more aggressive. For a guy his size he needs to impose himself more. But here's hoping he can come back with a bang.
     
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  19. James Gold Member Gold Member

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    Absence makes the heart grow fonder. He's a diddy
     
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  20. callumrae1967

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    Good backup for McGregor in the deep lying midfield position (hopefully)