Kazim-Richards on why fans will love him

Colin Kazim-Richards has vowed to silence the doubters, saying fans will love him and opposing teams will hate to play against him.

The remarks come 29-year-old striker signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Celtic on a free transfer from Feyenoord.

Kazim-Richards has fallen out of favour with the Dutch side after he was suspended for two weeks for threatening a journalist.

In his career, the Turkish international striker has scored 54 senior career goals in 406 appearances for both club and country.

Since turning professional in 2004, he has played for 10 clubs and has struggled to hold down a regular place due to his attitude and work ethic towards fellow team-mates and coaches.

Despite this concerns and a history of being a nuisance in the dressing room, Kazim-Richards insists he won’t be a bad Bhoy under Deila.

As quoted by the Daily Mail, he spoke about the incident with the Dutch journalist and said:

There are three sides to a story: this side, that side and the truth.

It’s done. I’m a Celtic player and it has no relevance to the future. There were issues before anything happened and it just got to a point where me and Feyenoord didn’t want to continue working together. So we had to find a solution.

Kazim-Richards also elaborated on why some people hate him and why he has built up a bad reputation as a player.

I think it’s because of the way I play. When I play for your team, you love me. When I play against you, you hate me.

All the coaches will hate me. All the other fans will hate me. Because I don’t give a second’s rest to the defenders. I will run into and do whatever needs to be done to win the game.

Because of the type of player I am, people outside the club I’m at like to put on certain things. That comes with the job, which is sad, but I can’t change it.

Do I feed off it? Of course I do. I play better when the other team’s fans are booing me. I know I am doing something right then.

His best spell in his 11-year career was he most recent one at Feyenoord – but he still only found the net 14 times in 49 appearances for the Rotterdam club.

Having been in Glasgow for talks several days ago, the Turkish international will hope to be a complimentary option to Leigh Griffiths and become a dynamic duo unlike Celtic’s current and previous strikers.

Nadir Ciftci has moved on loan to Turkish side Eskisehirspor for the remainder of the season, while Carlton Cole has struggled to get first-team minutes since he signed back in October.