Now it’s all about refocusing on the job and trying to prove he’s worthy of a place in Ronny Deila’s team. The former Dundee United starlet had moved to English Premier League side West Brom in 2012 but spent the majority of his time on loan before returning north to sign for Hibs two years later.
Yesterday was always going to be a tough few hours for Allan as he finally put to bed the transfer saga of the summer. A gifted, thoughtful midfielder of international standing, his accomplishments with Celtic, Monaco, Everton and Scotland were not reproduced in his spells in charge of Hibernian and Charleroi.
Asked about his views on his former team-mate Allan, he replied: ‘No, I’ve not got a clue who he is.
He said: “Our families were friends, we went to nursery together, primary school together – Cardonald Primary near Ibrox – and he lived five minutes down the road from me”.
“I wanted to progress my career and this was the right move for me”, said the 23-year-old midfielder.
“I know I’ll get a lot of stick off some people, but it’s about playing football and developing and this is the right place for me”.
He recalled: “We played Hibs and drew 6-6 – and I missed a penalty at 6-5”. But the truth is Salzburg are better and showed it in the Europa League last year, too.
“It’s also the champions isn’t it?”
“It’s a chance of winning things and that’s what you set out to do as a young kid”.
“I’m definitely going to have to be patient”.
“I was just concentrating on my game and, if something came up, I’d need to make a decision”. Hopefully I can do the same. Celtic have the quality here to allow me to do more of that. I didn’t know what to expect. When you have that, then it is easy to settle in.
First up was George Kelly, who emailed: “Thank goodness Rangers never got Allan as he is just another Scott Brown”.
“There was a bit of uncertainty”, said Allan. That’s what they’re there for. This is the decision I made for my best interests. They have been fine with me. Whatever effect John Collins has had on Celtic, he might just have galvanised all the others to give the Hoops the challenge he says they need on their own patch. He just said: “Good luck”. “We wish him all the best for the future”. “Obviously they have been doing well, but it’s something I have been looking forward to”.
As Allan’s projected move from Hibs to Rangers dragged on and before Celtic officially entered the fray, Ibrox ace Halliday went public on what he hoped could happen with Allan. I spoke to [Celtic player] Charlie Mulgrew about it as well.
The first rule of football management is that the performance of your players is your responsibility, not the burden of others – and especially not those who must work with vastly inferior resources.
“So, it was disappointing not to be in the starting line-up, but I can respect Alan Stubbs’ decision”.
“Would I prefer him to be away before the game?”
“He wasn’t able to get his message across, when his message at times was a very good message”. Some managers don’t want you to express yourself like he did. “His man-management was brilliant with me”.