The football cult legend joined Brendan Rodgers’ Parkhead backroom team after finishing his career at Celtic
Halfway through his debut and last season as a footballer for Celtic, Kolo Toure acknowledges he felt it was time to call it quits.
The 43-year-old football cult icon attended Parkhead for a year in 2016–17 before calling it quits on an amazing career. Following former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers to Glasgow, Arsenal Invincible Toure assisted the Hoops in achieving a historic Invincible Treble. The Ivory Coast defender was instrumental in Celtic’s thrilling 5-1 victory over newly promoted Rangers and the Champions League qualifiers during the early months of Rodgers’ first tenure.
However, following a disastrous performance against Borussia Monchengladbach in October 2016, the two-time Premier League winner quickly disappeared from the picture. He played just five more games before hanging up his boots and joining Rodgers’ backroom crew. Even though Toure was aware that his playing days were coming to an end, he still enjoyed performing in front of 60,000 spectators at Celtic Park.
“Joining Celtic, I was going there because of Brendan Rodgers,” he remarked in an interview with Jake Humphrey on the High-Performance podcast. To be honest, I was not watching Celtic, but I was following them a little. I had no idea what to expect when I went there for training. It was amazing to see the spectators and the people when I visited the training field. The level of passion was astounding. They are deeply devoted to the club.
“The match between Rangers and Celtic. That kind of thing is rare. In my opinion, it’s religious. They despise one another rather than like one another.”
When asked how to handle the rivalry, he laughed and said, “Win games. Win football games. particularly in Scotland. Make sure you emerge victorious. Make sure that every game you play against them is a victory. We defeated Rangers 5-1 when I played, which was the first time they had emerged from relegation. That was a game I participated in. We played pretty well, the game was great, and it was heated.
“I spotted police in the middle of the road when I was driving my car after the end of the game. On the left and right, there were two groups of supporters: Rangers and Celtics, who wanted a confrontation. I made a rapid turn and headed in the opposite direction. Yes, the experience in Scotland was amazing.”
In the early going of the momentous campaign, Rodgers depended on Toure’s expertise, but Dedryck Boyata quickly rose from the background to become a key member of the team. After patiently waiting for his opportunity under the Northern Irishman, Toure’s major break came when he decided to have a heart-to-heart conversation with Rodgers, realizing that his greatest days were probably behind him.
The former Manchester City player remarked, “It’s challenging to feel as though your strength is fading.” I was hurting inside since I was a strong player and was accustomed to winning my duels consistently. I detested being passed by younger guys in training because I was unable to handle the intensity.
“I recall the instant I decided to retire. A game was played. We took a break in December and then returned. I recall asking Brendan if I would be able to play that game during our talk.
“Dedryck Boyata, one of our young players, was excelling in his training the week before the second half of the season began. I reasoned that if I played that game, I would ruin the team’s chances of winning. I don’t believe I performed to the best ability.
“I told the manager to use the young youngster. You have to acknowledge your limitations as a person. It dawned on me then to let this youngster play. Just give him this chance; he’s fit and training well. Returning to Martin Keown, he helped me settle with Arsenal. He never stopped me from growing as a person, and I reasoned that I didn’t want to impede this young boy’s growth.
Dedryck and I talked. He wasn’t playing, which was why he was down. But I told him not to worry. I told him straight up, ‘Listen, the management respects my experience, which is why I’m playing. But don’t worry, you’re going to have fun.
