Tam Rogic

JOHN PARK was at the heart of Celtic’s deal to recruit Virgil van Dijk.

The talent-spotter was instrumental in bringing in Victor Wanyama, Ki Sung-yueng, Gary Hooper and Moussa Dembele.


But few of the Hoops’ recruits of the last decade give the former recruitment chief as much pride as the bargain signing of Tom Rogic.

The unknown prospect from Down Under was lured to Paradise for just 400,000 Australian dollars, roughly £220,000, in 2013.


Still just 27, the midfielder, who looked on the way out in the summer, was hailed by boss Neil Lennon for his display in the Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen.

Park, who left the Hoops in 2016 after Brendan Rodgers’ arrival, provided SunSportwith an insight into the deal which brought Rogic to Scotland.

He said: “Tom Rogic is an exceptionally talented footballer.



“But he’s also a lovely boy and it’s given me great pleasure seeing him become a Celtic hero.


Make no mistake, that’s how he should be regarded when you consider what he’s helped the club achieve.

“I was first made aware of Rogic by a guy called Daniel Berman, a lawyer and agent based in London. This would be late 2012 or early 2013.

“He was involved in Nike soccer schools, and Rogic excelled during his involvement with that set-up.

“It was a priceless recommendation from Daniel, and he was fantastic to deal with.


The Australian side Central Coast Mariners had Tom, but there was the prospect of a move.

“Berman believed Celtic would be the ideal club for him. I did a bit of homework on him and studied footage of him in action.

“I considered his age, potential, his value of just 400,000 Australian dollars, and also compared him with the level of player we had at his age within the Celtic academy.

“We got references and we knew his club manager, Graham Arnold, rated him very highly.


It soon became clear to me bringing Rogic over was a big opportunity we should take.

“We got a deal done quickly and the rest is history. It’s fair to say he’s proved to be a decent signing.

“You couldn’t wish for a better boy either. He is a lovely lad, the kind you would be happy for your daughter to meet.

“I also remember he wasn’t a minute’s bother after he made the long trip to Glasgow from Australia.

“At one point early on, I actually spoke to his bank manager and he couldn’t speak highly enough of Tom for how he conducted himself.


What a brilliant servant he’s been for Celtic since 2013.

“People sometimes look at him and think he’s lazy. That he doesn’t run about enough.

“But that’s the job of others. With Rogic you just want him on the ball. He’s not lazy, it’s just his deceptive playing style. He glides about the pitch, gets into great positions and creates openings out of nothing.

“He can do things with the ball most others in the team can’t. He’s a sublime midfielder, so much quality with each foot.

“Rogic is a proper No 10. Look back on his Celtic goals, there have been magnificent efforts with both feet.


He’s had a lot of tough injuries throughout his Celtic career. But it says it all about him he has come through them all and achieved so much.

“He’s won the lot with Celtic and is now one of the most-capped players in the current Australia squad.

“His professionalism is second to none. You never see him publicly complain about anything, he never shouts his mouth off, he just gets on with it.

"On Sunday at Hampden, he was magnificent, his neat pass for Ryan Christie’s opener and then a cross hung up perfectly for Mohamed Elyounoussi to score.

“I’m delighted to see Rogic back fit again and playing his part for Celtic. He’s only 27 and can achieve much more.


Of course, it’s great seeing the likes of Virgil Van Dijk become top players too.

“In some respects it’s even better when it’s a younger lad, like Rogic was when he joined Celtic, rising to the top.

“Adam Matthews is another I take a lot of satisfaction from.

“He came in from Cardiff as an 18-year-old and cost only £180,000 in compensation. He had played just 42 times at Cardiff. But he also proved a top player for Celtic.

“Ki Sung-yueng was 18 when he arrived, and he established himself. Moussa Dembele was only 19 when we signed him.


It’s nice to see Rogic still at Celtic and doing well. I hope he enjoys more success.

“A lot of managers and coaches spoke to me about him after he’d come into the first team. They wanted to know his background.

“I honestly believe Rogic’s breakthrough years at Celtic made other clubs pay more attention to the Australian football scene.”

 

He has that ability to split defences with a little pass or skill, which we really miss. When fully fit with Edouard and Ajeti making runs should be banging them in.

 

I know John Park had some poor signings and not all the players below will be down to him but during his tenure when you see the list of Ki, Wanyama, Rogic, FF, Hooper, Dembele, VVD, Christie, Armstrong, Ledley, Kayal, Bitton, Matthews, Kelvin Wilson Ajer, Lustig, Commons and Izzy, there aren’t half some great signings in there during those 7 years.

Your looking at around a £50mn profit and that’s including the ~£2mn of fees paid for Christie, Ajer, Rogic and Bitton who are still key members of the first team. The first two are likely to be sold soon for at least £9.5mn profit each, probably more. Of all them on that list Kayal and Commons are the only loss’s which was purely down to injury and end of career having cost £1m and £0.3m before leaving for free however still providing a good service during their times.

Don’t get me wrong I still know there were plenty of Bangura’s, Borreighter, Balde, Scepovic, and the likes but given the market we were in you can’t argue with that list of 18 players, none of them costing more than a £3mn fee and most substantially less, in total longer term likely to generate in the region of £70m profit.

It would be great to have him back involved in some capacity with our recruitment if possible but that’s unlikely given Nick Hammond and Gary Penrice now seem to be in charge.

 

There was never any doubting what he can do on his day, the question is how long he can sustain it for.

If he continues to play well and keeps helping us win then I will gladly consider myself proven wrong. But the problem was never what he can offer us, it was how long he can do it for.
Hopefully the oz national team doesnt call him up in the near future.

 

well he was essentially a foot out the door. Worth bearing in mind people were throwing about figures of £15m for him and then it looked like his celtic career was flickering out and he was going to Qatar for £4m.

We should expect this much from one of the higher earners at the club. Hopefully a few others get a bit of a lift from TR as well.

 

Id take John Park back in a heartbeat.

 

Then we were debating completely different things. I thought you were saying everything he had done was in the past and he can’t effect games like that now.

While undoubtably, he makes our squad better even if he’s only available for 40 games a season.

 

Enjoy!

 

Pure * , due a screamer of a goal soon

 

For the record I thought he was a bright spark today. Involved in a goal, again.

 

Stunning. Absolutely stunning..

That was pure joy to watch his touches and runs..

They can't get near him so are trying to do him..

 

Is he playing for Australia this coming week?

 

Pure baller

 

Rogic.

The player Messi and Ronaldo wish they could be

 

Disgusting scumbag Cole

 

It's not a transfer he should be in line for, it's a new contract!

 

A great man.

 

Unbelievable player..

His feet are genuinely world class. The touch, control and weight of passing is elite..

Looked quicker and fitter today..