Celtic Flop Lifts Lid on ‘Failed’ Parkhead Experiment

MARVIN COMPPER became a joke figure among the Celtic support, through no fault of his own, but because he only played 81 minutes of football during his whole Celtic career.

Brought in to add experience to the team on decent wages, Celtic thought they were getting a solid centre-back but Brendan Rodgers lost interest very quickly after Marvin got injured in Dubai.

There were so many times when Celtic fans thought Marvin would be put in and he would get his chance but it never came. He spent more time on the Celtic Park pitch as a pundit for German TV during his time at the club.

Speaking about the move now and looking at everything in hindsight, Marvin speaks very well of the club and gives his own thoughts on why he never got a game.

The defender also lifts the lid on what he did behind the scenes and how he tried to contribute speaking to The Times.

 “I was brought into Celtic with high hopes, but it was a failed experiment.

“I was very experienced. I had gone through a lot of pressure situations in my career.

“So it was very exciting signing for Celtic and, coming to Scotland, it was an adventure.

“Having finished second the season before with Leipzig, I hoped to give Celtic a part of my experience to help the team grow. Unfortunately it never quite came to that.

“Brendan’s vision was for me to be one of the experienced group and help the team be more stable, especially in Europe.

“If I would have stayed healthy at the beginning, it might have come to that.

“But when you come to a club and get injured in a training camp and some niggles here and there, the doubts begin to rise.

“By the time I got a training rhythm and would have been ready to get a chance and prove myself, by that time the ship had already sailed.

“I still had the feeling that I could give the team some experience and I’m convinced I did, on a different level from being on the pitch and playing.

On his winners’ medals.

“It was definitely a bit strange. A lot of managers talk about a team being important up to the last player who played 10 minutes in a game.

“Even if it’s a tiny part, they’ve played their part. For a player with my CV and career, though, that is not enough.

“A young player like Karamoko Dembele, for example, was very proud and happy they got a medal. For me it was strange because I wasn’t able to contribute.

“The impact I had on Leipzig and Hoffenheim promotions was much bigger so there’s a huge difference between the two.

“Ultimately I’m still very proud to have been part of the Celtic squad, part of the history and wearing the colours. Even if it was only in one cup game and training, it still happened.”

“I don’t have any regrets and I wouldn’t make any different decision. It was a good decision to make at that stage in my career, I went to Celtic to play international football and win titles.

“Even though I have the medal, it’s still not the way I wanted to win titles, I wanted to be an integral part of the team, that was the motivation to go to a big team like Celtic.”