Shaun Maloney

JOHN Kennedy believes that Shaun Maloney’s experience in progressing through the Celtic ranks will be invaluable in helping prepare the Development Squad for the step-up to the first team.

Maloney’s return to Paradise as a coach for the Under-20s sees the 34-year-old complete a full circle for the Hoops, having himself graduated from the Celtic Youth Academy before going on to enjoy two successful spells in the first-team.

Discussing the arrival of his "good friend”, Kennedy spoke highly of Maloney’s achievements as a player and pointed out that his 10 years at the club have given him valuable knowledge which he can pass down to the young Bhoys.

“He brings a wealth of experience in terms of starting at the club as a young player and moving into the first-team and being very successful,” said Kennedy. “He’s had spells in England, America and is an FA Cup winner, so he’ll bring a lot to the table.

“What he’ll bring here is a personality and a character. He’s a model professional, a player who many of our first-team guys would look up to, never mind the young players. Tommy McIntyre has been working on his own for all of the pre-season so it’s another coach who can be in contact with the players and the players can look up to him.”

Maloney’s arrival marks his third stint at the club. However, this time, the Scotland internationalist will take on a different challenge as he embarks on a new career in coaching, having decided to call time on his playing career. Kennedy was quick to highlight how Maloney’s outlook on the game aligned with that of Brendan Rodgers.

“He has a lot of knowledge of the game and is a player who’s been studying it for a long time," said Celtic's first-team coach. "When the manager sat down with him, he realised very quickly that Shaun was very much on the same page as we are in terms of how he wanted the game to be played and how we see things moving forward.”

The affinity between Maloney’s own ideas and that of Brendan Rodgers, along with the the rest of the coaching staff, will be crucial in helping the young players forge a path into the first-team, according to Kennedy.

“It’s vitally important that we prepare our young players the way we prepare the first-team guys in order for them to put in performances like they did against Kilmarnock the other night, and Shaun’s a great candidate to do that," he added.

“He understands the pressure of coming into a first-team environment as a young player and the transition of that, so he’s got that experience that he can transition to the players, which is a big positive.”

 

Had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with Shaun when he was briefly with Chicago Fire and I can tell you he is a Celt through and through and a really down to earth good guy. Hopefully he can be a big influence on the young players coming through.

 

Happy enough with this, I can remember Lubo saying how much of an example Maloney should be to the other youngsters, used to pester him for hours after training to work on his free kicks/corners etc.

 

Good appointment, he can still play, is still fit so will be able to train with them and show them the level of skill required plus he's always been known as a hard trainer and probably still will be showing how hard you need to train to make it.

Would like to see more ex players back working with the youth, in the coming years Brown, McManus, McGeady, Mulgrew, O'Dea and some others may all have an interest in it who are well respected Celtic players.

 

Good luck to him. Great wee player he was.

 

excellent, hopefully this is the first of many ex players coming back and working with the age groups at Celtic. I would like more of the ex stars coming and working with the various age levels and helping with the development of the young players.

 

Welcome home wee man.

 

Brung him hame

 

Am I right in thinking he's the last of the Seville squad to retire?

Quite a landmark day.

 

Yes, he is. * *, I feel old.

 

Will never forgive the greedy eee * trying to go for glory in the dying min of seville with that free kick! There was men there who would have jumped through a brick wall to get onto a decent cross and head it into the back of the net to make it 3-3.

Only kidding, well only half kidding. Was a decent player and hopefully * be a decent coach for us.

 

Good to see him back at the club, I think he has a lot to offer the young bhoys

 

It's not so unusual for goalkeepers to keep at it well into their forties. (Peter Shilton, David James, etc.)

 

That might be a bit of a problem where Rab Douglas is concerned.

 

He'll be injured within a fortnight.

 

SM: I’m really enjoying it here. It’s a very new role and it’s a lot more work but it’s enjoyable.

SM: I’m not missing the playing side of things. Physically, it became quite difficult in the last few years.

SM: I’ve thrown myself into the job and I’m enjoying it. Of course, you have days when training goes well and days when it doesn’t.


SM: The really great days are when you get to call a 17 year-old boy and tell him he’s in the first team.

SM: That’s what you dream of from a coaching point of view.

SM: The manager played a big role in my move, which I’m grateful for. The club's in a great place and I’m fortunate to have this role.

SM: As a player I gave my all to be the best I could and as a coach I’ll do the same. I’ll work as hard as I can to work at highest level.

SM on Scotland: I think they have a great chance this week and it’s a huge game. I don’t see any reason why they can’t win the match.

SM: I’m hopeful that the next generation can become that little bit better and do what we didn’t and hopefully qualify.



SHAUN Maloney knows what the young players coming through the Celtic Youth Academy are experiencing as they strive to achieve their goal of becoming first-team players at the club, so he’s perfectly placed as a development coach to offer them advice and guidance on that journey.

After all, he’s one of the most successful graduates of the Academy in recent years, having joined as a 16-year-old back in 1999 and going on to make 251 appearances for the Hoops, scoring 52 goals in two spells with the club as a player. He won five league titles, five Scottish Cup and three League Cups.

So while he is relishing his new role, working alongside Tommy McIntyre, the players under his charge will be wise to learn what they can from someone who also gained 47 caps for Scotland.

“I’ve been thinking about this side of the game for a few years’ now,” Maloney explained. “I knew in the last 12 months or so that my playing career was going to come to an end. If it wasn’t this summer, it was going to be next summer.

“When I think about the learning curve I have ahead of me here and the opportunity to work with Celtic and the coaches here, I know I couldn’t have asked for anything better as a first job. It’s been perfect timing, it worked out really well on an individual basis, and to join the club given where it currently at is really fortunate.

“I’ve also been really fortunate with some of the managers I’ve had the opportunity to work under and they’ve definitely sparked something within me that has led me to pursue coaching.

“Brendan Rodgers has given us a template and it’s his style and ideas that we have to try and replicate in the Under-20s and make sure that the players coming through make it into the first team and stay there.

“I’m really excited and I know what I have to do. The main goal is to try and get as many players through the Academy and into the first-team as possible, and hopefully they can stay there and be part of a club which has another amazing season.

“Training-wise, the intensity has been really good. Their work-rate has been really good. I couldn’t have asked for anything more and now it’s obviously my job, assisting Tommy and the team, in order to get the manager’s ideas across.”

Having successfully followed the pathway from Celtic Academy to first-team, Maloney believes he can help the young players do the same, though he’s not going to go out of his way to cite himself as an example.

“My playing career’s done so I certainly wouldn’t bring that up with the players,” he said, “but if there are certain questions they want to ask, then they know they can come to me and ask about certain scenarios I’ve been through.”