He had a lot of issues- Jackie McNamara casts some light on the signing that almost took off for Ronny Deila

Jackie McNamara has shared some detail on Nadir Ciftci during an appearance on the Let Me Be Frank podcast.

Celtic signed the striker in the summer of 2015 as Ronny Deila put his mark on the side despite the prospect of a lengthy SFA ban for a biting incident during a match against Dundee.

Ciftci certainly had something but falls into that wrong player, wrong time, wrong club category with his Celtic move never taking off.

In a roundabout way it did kick off Leigh Griffiths into the most prolific season of his career, after his summer signing Ciftci went on loan to Eskisehirspor of Turkey.

The striker scored four goals from five SPFL starts and six substitute appearances but fairly soon Deila had decided that the move wasn’t going to work out, probably above the manager’s head Carlton Cole and Colin Kazim Richards were signed during the eventful 2015/16 season.

Ciftci returned to Celtic but spent the rest of his time out on loans to Pogon Szczecin, Plymouth and Motherwell before his contract expired in 2019 without ever getting close to his 2014/15 highs at United under McNamara and Donnelly.

Listening in to the podcast The Courier reports McNamara saying:

In the two-and-a-half years there, we had three teams to change. I went there in January and lost Jon Daly, who went to Rangers for nothing, Johnny Russell went to Derby for £750,000 – that’s 33 goals out of my team – Barry Douglas went away to Poland.

Peter Houston left the club because he couldn’t deal with the cuts, he said. I had to take the budget down half-a-million in six months.

I took in Nadir Ciftci on trial through big Pierre [Van Hooijdonk]. He said: ‘Have a look at him, he’s trouble.’ He was phenomenal but he had a lot of issues. I had to treat him like he was my son, get that respect.

I thought I could do it – three teams in a short space [of time]. We weren’t bad at the start of the [last] season. But I think it was nine games in he sacked me.

We lost away at St Johnstone and he sacked me in the stadium after the game. After everything that we’d done and changed in that two-and-a-half years, it just scunners you with the job.

Ciftci does have the distinction of scoring the first Celtic goal under the management of Brendan Rodgers, the following day the transfer of Moussa Dembele was completed from Fulham.

In 73 matches for Dundee United Ciftci scored 33 goals.

Celje 2-2 Celtic 30/6/2016

CELTIC (4-3-3) Gordon (Fasan 46); Fisher (Ralston 46), Sviatchenko (O’Connell 46), Ajer (McCart 46), Tierney (Janko 46 [Lindsay 88]); Johansen (McGregor 46), Bitton (Henderson 46), Allan (Armstrong 46); Christie (Roberts 46), Griffiths (Ciftci 46), Forrest (Rogic 46)
Goals: Ciftci 56, Rogic 75

NK Celje (4-4-2) Mujcinovic (Kotnik 19); Kous (Klemencic 70), Hadzic, Travner, Vidmajer; Podlogar, Pisek (Lovrrecic 69), Miskic, Marcius; Glavac (Pungarsek 46), Hadzic (Dzinic 57)
Goals: Miskic 28, 49