Tommy Burns Tribute

Tommy Burns has paid tribute to Phil O'Donnell as Scottish football continues to mourn the Motherwell captain who died on Saturday.

O'Donnell was Burns' first major signing as Celtic manager when he paid £1.75million for the player back in 1994.

Burns told the Scottish Sun: "I paid almost £2million to make Phil my first signing as Celtic manager and I didn't have a problem with the fee.
"All I could see was a special player and a special human being. He was exactly the kind I wanted at Celtic.
"I thought he was the outstanding young talent in the country.

"It was a record amount of money for Celtic to pay but I just felt he was worth it.
"Sadly, injuries blighted his career and if it hadn't been for them then I'm sure he would have had a fantastic career.

"But he still played on until he was 35 and, right to the end, Phil was an absolute credit to himself and his family."

O'Donnell collapsed on the pitch during Motherwell's 5-3 victory over Dundee United on Saturday.

Team-mate Steven McGarry said: "The thing I'll remember is the look on his face when Davie Clarkson, his nephew, scored his second goal on Saturday.

"It really was an unbelievable goal and I turned around and looked at Phil when it hit the net.
"He just had a huge smile on his face at that moment - that's what will live with me forever."
Motherwell defender Stephen Craigan is putting his trust in the guidance of manager Mark McGhee as he and his team-mates struggle to come to terms with the tragedy.

"We're looking for some inspiration, direction and we trust him to know what's best," Craigan told BBC Scotland.

"We don't know if it will take a week, a month, we've never been in this situation before.
"It's a very testing time for Mark McGhee. He's the figurehead of the club and we will follow what he does and I think we have a very good leader in the camp."

Well's next two fixtures against Hibernian and Celtic have been postponed as a mark of respect to O'Donnell.

And Craigan admits he cannot contemplate playing matches at this traumatic time.
"We don't know what we are going to do," said the Northern Ireland international.

"I believe the next two games have been called off, which mean absolutely nothing to us just now.

"If someone would have said we had to play we probably just wouldn't have turned up."
Celtic boss Gordon Strachan spoke of the profound effect O'Donnell's death is having on the Parkhead club.

Celtic face Rangers on Wednesday in what had been shaping up to be the biggest game of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League season so far.

But Strachan this morning struggled to get his mind off the death of the 35-year-old, who played for Celtic from 1994 to 1999 after a £1.75million move from Motherwell.

Strachan said: "Phil's second club was probably Celtic friends-wise and the reaction, when the news came through the other day, you knew he had a lot of close friends here, that's for sure.
"Because I don't think I've seen a reaction like that in football.

"We've had legendary figures dying on us but at an older age. For a young man to be taken away....
"I think we are all trying to get our heads round the fact he has got four kids and a young wife."
Celtic defender Gary Caldwell admits it is difficult to think about the Old Firm derby so soon after O'Donnell's death.

He said: "I think it does put football into the background, who wins points and leagues does seem irrelevant, but the powers that be decide that we have to get on with it."

There have been calls for the Parkhead clash to be postponed, and although Strachan was reluctant to divulge his opinion, it was clear he lacked enthusiasm for the game.

He said: "I can empathise, because I'm in this position, with anybody who feels that way."