Former Celtic centre-back Darren O’Dea has admitted he did not fully appreciate the never-ending success the Bhoys regularly enjoy until he left the club.
O’Dea is currently serving as the manager of Celtic's Under-18s side after a brief coaching spell at Motherwell.
The ex-Bhoys centre-back spent six years at the club and made 59 appearances in a green and white shirt, including a memorable one in the Scottish League Cup final against rivals Rangers in 2009. The 33-year old opened the scoring in extra-time, with Celtic winning the final 2-0.
Reflecting on his time as a player, O’Dea stressed he always focused on where the next trophy was coming from.
The now Under-18s manager played for a number of clubs in his career and recalls how only a few clubs in the world are good enough to win trophies.
O’Dea revealed his appreciation for his time at Celtic has increased since he left the club in 2012.
“It’s now that you appreciate the scale of winning cups and league and things like that”, O’Dea was quoted as saying by the club’s official site.
“I’ll be honest, when I was in the first team, I appreciated every moment that I had, but winning was the norm.
"You never sat back after winning anything, you just thought: right, where’s the next one coming from?
“It’s probably not until you leave Celtic that you realise there are only a handful of clubs in world football in each league that actually win those leagues and cups.
“Celtic is obviously at the forefront of that every year, and when you leave you really see how special the club is in terms of giving you the opportunity to be constantly fighting for silverware.”
O’Dea has plied his trade across multiple continents, playing for the likes of Blackpool, Toronto and Mumbai City FC.
