New medical team at Celtic paying dividends

The change in the backroom staff went largely unnoticed by Celtic fans last month, but the results are there for everyone to see according to John Collins.

Ronny Deila brought in his own injury prevention specialists in Bard and Grete Homstol to take over from first-team physio Tim Williamson and they take no shortcuts in making sure the players are healthy.

Both worked close with Deila at Stromsgodset and have spoken to Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid over the years about their methods and exchanged ideas and methods.

Celtic trained with 23 first-team players on Thursday, the only exception were Jozo Simunovic who is out with a cracked bone in his knee and Saidy Janko who is returning to training following a serious knee injury,

As quoted by the Glasgow Evening Times, Celtic assistant manager John Collins spoke about the pair who are also husband and wife.

He said:

Ronny wanted to bring something different to the table. He made it bigger, it has grown, and the fruits are now there for everyone to see. We had 23 first team squad players on the training pitch today. The results are, so that’s very pleasing. It’s what every club in the world wants.

There is a different approach, it’s more hands-on. There is lots of work on the muscles. It’s hard, painful stuff for the players every day. The medical staff are stretching them, getting deep into the tissue before and after training. They all have programs to do, before and after. It’s preventative stuff. That’s the secret. It’s about keeping them balanced and strong.

Every player questions change. They ask ‘why, what’s the purpose?’. But you have to go with the flow and thankfully the change has been better. The proof is in the pudding.

James Forrest in a prime example of how long-term fitness problems have been resolved under the new regime and hasn’t been on the treatment table this season.

Collins applauded the work of both the new medical staff and the measures they go to in order to resolve the continuous injury problems.

James Forrest hasn’t been injured for a long time, for example.

The last thing you want is a treatment room full of injured players when you are paying them salaries and they’re not playing.

The ideal scenario and dream for every club is to have fewer injuries. So we try everything possible, every method, to avoid them.

With competition rife in the side thanks to the meticulous work of the new medical duo, Deila could be given a selection headache if more players hit form in the business end of the season.