GORDON Strachan’s thoughts today were understandably not on any football matters. He instead spoke quietly and movingly about the sense of shock everyone in football still felt in trying to come to terms with the sudden death of Phil O’Donnell.
And the Celtic manager said that the most difficult aspect of the tragedy was in knowing that Phil O’Donnell had left behind his wife, Eileen, and their four young children, as well as a very close and utterly devastated wider family circle.
“To talk about a game of football at the moment is not easy,” he said. “Any young man who dies leaving four kids is a tragedy but in the football world you reach more people.
“I’d only bumped into him a couple of times and you went away thinking ‘He’s a nice lad.’
“It’s far-reaching because on Saturday night my son phoned me and said it was shocking about Phil. He said, ‘He was a smashing lad,’ and I asked my son how he knew Phil O’Donnell?
“He said that when he’d gone on trial to Sheffield Wednesday, Phil was there. When you go on trial it can be a horrible period and no-one really takes you on board, but Phil was injured at the time and he spoke to him a lot and looked after him while he was there.
“That’s one of my children phoning to say what a smashing fella he was, so not only has he left his mark in Scotland but on anybody he seemed to touch.”
Phil O’Donnell began his playing career at Motherwell before Tommy Burns signed him for Celtic in 1994. And the bond between the player and Celtic has remained strong throughout the remainder of his career, which also saw him at Sheffield Wednesday before he returned to Fir Park three years ago.
But, more than the fact that he was a Celtic supporter, O’Donnell was also close friends with some of the present Hoops squad, including former Motherwell team-mate, Scott McDonald, and current Celtic captain, Stephen McManus.
And Gordon Strachan described the sense of loss when the news
began to filter through to Celtic Park on Saturday night.
“Phil’s second club is probably Celtic, in terms of friends-wise,” he said, “and from the reaction when the news came through on Saturday you knew he had a lot of close friends here because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a reaction like that in football.
“We’ve had legendary figures dying on us, but at an older age, and for a young man to be taken is tragic.
“The whole weekend’s become a sort of numb feeling because I know a lot of the lads here were very, very friendly with Phil, and Mark (McGhee) came to my house yesterday afternoon and we sat down for a while and spoke about what happened.
“Usually there is a focus for the Rangers game but it’s not even been spoken about yet. Normally at the weekend you’re putting plans together – what you’re going to do and who you’re going to play – but it’s just not been a talking point, either here or in the households involved with Celtic people."
Motherwell manager Mark McGhee spoke outside Fir Park on Sunday and said that the entire club were left “devastated and absolutely dumbfounded” by Phil O’Donnell’s tragic death.
He said: “We had a meeting with the players and obviously they've taken it very badly and we're going to have to help them through that.
“We're going to miss a guy who was a fine man, a guy who was a fantastic example to all of his colleagues.
“He was a man among boys in every sense of the word in his attitude and professionalism and integrity and sincerity.
And the Celtic manager said that the most difficult aspect of the tragedy was in knowing that Phil O’Donnell had left behind his wife, Eileen, and their four young children, as well as a very close and utterly devastated wider family circle.
“To talk about a game of football at the moment is not easy,” he said. “Any young man who dies leaving four kids is a tragedy but in the football world you reach more people.
“I’d only bumped into him a couple of times and you went away thinking ‘He’s a nice lad.’
“It’s far-reaching because on Saturday night my son phoned me and said it was shocking about Phil. He said, ‘He was a smashing lad,’ and I asked my son how he knew Phil O’Donnell?
“He said that when he’d gone on trial to Sheffield Wednesday, Phil was there. When you go on trial it can be a horrible period and no-one really takes you on board, but Phil was injured at the time and he spoke to him a lot and looked after him while he was there.
“That’s one of my children phoning to say what a smashing fella he was, so not only has he left his mark in Scotland but on anybody he seemed to touch.”
Phil O’Donnell began his playing career at Motherwell before Tommy Burns signed him for Celtic in 1994. And the bond between the player and Celtic has remained strong throughout the remainder of his career, which also saw him at Sheffield Wednesday before he returned to Fir Park three years ago.
But, more than the fact that he was a Celtic supporter, O’Donnell was also close friends with some of the present Hoops squad, including former Motherwell team-mate, Scott McDonald, and current Celtic captain, Stephen McManus.
And Gordon Strachan described the sense of loss when the news
began to filter through to Celtic Park on Saturday night.“Phil’s second club is probably Celtic, in terms of friends-wise,” he said, “and from the reaction when the news came through on Saturday you knew he had a lot of close friends here because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a reaction like that in football.
“We’ve had legendary figures dying on us, but at an older age, and for a young man to be taken is tragic.
“The whole weekend’s become a sort of numb feeling because I know a lot of the lads here were very, very friendly with Phil, and Mark (McGhee) came to my house yesterday afternoon and we sat down for a while and spoke about what happened.
“Usually there is a focus for the Rangers game but it’s not even been spoken about yet. Normally at the weekend you’re putting plans together – what you’re going to do and who you’re going to play – but it’s just not been a talking point, either here or in the households involved with Celtic people."
Motherwell manager Mark McGhee spoke outside Fir Park on Sunday and said that the entire club were left “devastated and absolutely dumbfounded” by Phil O’Donnell’s tragic death.
He said: “We had a meeting with the players and obviously they've taken it very badly and we're going to have to help them through that.
“We're going to miss a guy who was a fine man, a guy who was a fantastic example to all of his colleagues.
“He was a man among boys in every sense of the word in his attitude and professionalism and integrity and sincerity.
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