Erik Sviatchenko

Some Bhoy.

I think he coulda improved under BR, but as said looked like a Southern sniff kinda messed everything up.

 

Cheers mate.

Can sleep easy now.

 

Quality

 

Wasn't a big fan of sviatchenko at the time but think he would have been ahead of jozo and Henry right now

 

Seems like he really misses it here. Maybe regrets being stroppy and not knuckling down to win his place back.

 

The most handsome and stylish player in Celtic history? Not for me to say... but yes.

 

Serious? Moreso than 'El Tumbo'?

 

in before 'we badly need him' when he was getting ripped a new one by semi-professional footballers

 

Lock up your clay pigeons.

 

Genuinely forgot he ever played for us. Was decent on his day, but something * him up and he lost it.

 

Met him today in town, was talking away.

He really does miss it here.

Second time I've met him, genuinely really nice guy and his wife is lovely aswell.

Looked really lean aswell, lost a good bit of weight

 

Met him today as well, I sang You'll never walk alone to him and he starting sobbing violently, and I ran away.

 

Moving to Celtic, Erik Sviatchenko resolved to broaden his mind. To open his eyes to the reality of life in Glasgow, his adopted city.

The Danish son of a Ukrainian artist, he went to galleries and museums, admired the architecture and posed for selfies in Buchanan Street.

His son was born in the city. His sister, Alexandra, left her mark on Celtic through charitable work, he left his own as a well-paid member of the Treble-winning Invincibles of 2016-17.



Yet, through it all, he was never blind to what was going on around him. Scotland's largest city was both the scene of Sviatchenko's greatest triumphs and a sobering, gritty introduction in how the other half live.

'I realised Glasgow had real problems' he tells Sportsmail now. 'I read that the average living standard and life expectancy is quite different from east to the west of the city.

'It's quite tough in parts and, look, I know I didn't go to all those places. But people really underestimate Glasgow as a city.

'I always met genuine people with a smile everywhere I went. You knew that, because you were a Celtic player, people wanted to help you and you were idolised.

'If I was out shopping with my son, they always asked for a photo in a nice polite way.

'We had a nice apartment and my son, William, was born there.

'The architecture and design were really impressive. I saw the different galleries, the Modern Institute, so much culture.

'The Turner Prize for the best British artist was awarded there.

'I loved the places to eat and the fact we could be at Loch Lomond in 30 minutes.

'Then there was the joy in playing for a successful team. Celtic is one of the top ten clubs in the world that people know about. There is nothing bigger, club-wise, unless you go to Manchester United or Boca Juniors.

'So much happened. Life in general was so successful, it was so good.'

When it ended against his will after 63 games last summer, he yearned to ask Brendan Rodgers one question. Why?


Who knows?' he tells Sportsmail. 'Maybe in two or three years' time I will sit down with Brendan for a coffee and ask what I should have done differently.

'It was difficult to go from being such a big success at a club to being effectively a nothing.'

There is no anger or bitterness when he says this. He wants the point made that he seeks no sympathy either.

A little different to the footballer stereotype, Sviatchenko runs an art and fashion blog with his brother, Philip. Carrying himself with style and decorum is important. A second child is on the way with wife, Anne, and he helped FC Midtjylland to only the second Danish Superliga title in their history.

Life is back on an even path.

Nevertheless, much of the last six months have been spent seeking closure. And tomorrow he will pull down the curtain on his time in Glasgow by finally waving farewell to the Celtic support during the league clash with Dundee.

'I have tried with my mental coach, Rene Petersen, to close the chapter called Celtic,' he admits.

'I try to tell myself: 'I had two amazing years, 60 games, played in the Champions League, won trophies and was an important member of a really good team.

'Some things had be closed down and I think I have done that now.

'But an explanation for why things ended as they did at the end would be nice.'

One of Ronny Deila's last signings, the 27-year-old won two league medals and featured in Celtic's most successful league season in over a century. Yet, as Dedryck Boyata moved up the pecking order, he slipped down.

His final act in a Celtic shirt was a slow, painful limp to the treatment room after 25 minutes of a Champions League qualifier against Rosenborg in August 2017.

Strenuous, silent efforts to regain his place in the team failed. He saw the writing on the wall when Marvin Compper arrived last New Year.

'We went to a training camp in Dubai and he looked like a really good signing,' recalls Sviatchenko.

In reality, the German has been a disaster, making just one appearance in a green-and-white shirt.

'When Marvin came, I was going further down the pecking order without explanation. I just wanted some joy and pleasure back out of playing football again.'

He expresses respect and admiration for Rodgers. Yet, there were times towards the end when he felt the respect only moved one way.

'Maybe a little bit,' he admits. 'I had given so much and played 40-odd games in the first season.

'Look, I respect the manager so much because he gave me so much in some ways. If I had been shown some trust, I would probably have stayed.


I don't want people to feel sorry for me. Here we are a year later and I am back in Denmark and I have won the championship and my career is going well. But in those last couple of months when I was leaving Celtic, I would have hoped for a different kind of farewell.'

He intends to do it properly this weekend by saying goodbye to a Parkhead support he stays close to on social media.

He recently set tongues wagging on Twitter when he liked a post urging Celtic to re-sign him in January.

'My dream would be to play for Celtic again,' he admits.

'But it's not up to me. It's up to the manager and the board. They know me and they know what I am capable of. I feel I didn't really say a proper goodbye to Glasgow.

'I just left the day after the training camp and haven't been back for a year.

'I will be at the Dundee game and hope to see the manager there to thank him for all he did.

'I look at the way he has handled the Leigh Griffiths situation. Only good people go out of their way to help players like that...'

While in Glasgow, he will have dinner with former team-mates Ryan Christie and Kristoffer Ajer, members of the old card school which also featured Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven.

Inevitably, talk will turn to how Griffiths is faring as he seeks help for off-field issues.

'I knew Leigh sometimes had some struggles, even though it was nothing we would talk about,' notes Sviatchenko.

'Everything was happening around you, so you obviously knew stuff was going on.

'But I was shocked. It's not every day you hear about these things and I hope he can get back to a mental condition where he can perform again.

'I think football dressing rooms are improving with this stuff now. Even five to ten years ago, it was a macho environment.

'For Leigh to reach his decision to say: "Listen, I need time, I can't perform" is a strong statement.


It's a good thing it can now be spoken about with respect and compassion. It's important that people don't drive themselves into the ground. We have to deal with these things.'

Before joining Celtic, the defender used his mental coach Petersen to close down his youthful insecurities.

Moving to Glasgow at 24, he no longer felt he needed him. In those testing final months, that began to feel like a mistake.

'I think football is more mental than physical,' he says. 'Nobody knows what is happening in a player's mind.

'Maybe six months before I left Celtic, Rene could have helped me. I came back to Denmark and I really wasn't at the right level mentally.

'I never really felt I left Celtic properly. I put everything into it when I was there.

'First of all as a football player, but also as a person. I had to bring myself back to a state of mind and a level where I could compete again.'

He wants to move overseas again, but fears the door to British football might soon be slammed in his face. 'Brexit is a big thing in Denmark,' he adds.

'I don't know all the details but, as I understand it, they want to take down Theresa May as Conservative leader.'

Six months since he left Celtic with a lump in his throat, Sviatchenko knows how she feels.

 

Got rid of him and signed Compper.

Genius

 

There's something about him I just don't like.

 

Compper has been an unmitigated disaster but Sviatcenko was like a fish out of water being asked to play it out from the back, which is Brendan's style.

The Hogmanay 2016 game v the huns was a perfect example of that. Straight to their man when under little pressure. 15.45 in...