Fond farewell
Simon Buckland
He has his critics, but Paul Telfer will leave Celtic next year with treasured memories of the Champions League
His detractors can relax. Paul Telfer is leaving Celtic. When his existing Parkhead contract expires, he reveals, he will “slip quietly away on a Bosman”. Making a big noise about anything has never been his style. His intention is that his departure be as low key as his arrival in the summer of 2005 when his free transfer was sealed just in time for him to play in the infamous 5-0 defeat against Artmedia Bratislava. It could only get better. Telfer, though, never imagined it would get as good as it has.
As the players waited in the tunnel ahead of last month’s home Champions League tie with Manchester United that was to result in a 1-0 victory, Telfer glanced over at Gordon Strachan, who he previously played for at Coventry and Southampton, and shared the moment. “It’s funny, but I said to him, ‘Just like being at Coventry this, isn’t it?’ It was just a bit of sarcasm,” says Telfer. “I mean we were involved in some big games in England, but obviously not the heady heights of the Champions League.” He turned 35 last October and still can’t believe what has happened to him.
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It troubles his manager that Telfer’s efforts for Celtic haven’t always been appreciated, but the player himself has never answered back to the supporters who have targeted him. “If I’m taking the stick then it means other players are not,” was his response in the aftermath of the jeering of a wayward pass at home to FC Copenhagen at the end of September. The reasons for theantipathy are complicated. For some Celtic fans it is a sustained gesture of support for his predecessor at right-back, Jackie McNamara and his unhappy departure to Wolves. For others, it is more a reaction to Gordon Strachan’s apparent favouritism towards a player he has now signed three times, notably when Telfer was preferred to another long-time Celtic favourite, Didier Agathe. It can be argued that Strachan has exacerbated matters with his well-intentioned, but often counter-productive, lavish praise. The animosity probably isn’t down to anything Telfer has done and definitely isn’t due to anything he’s said.
What has seldom been mentioned is that Telfer’s wife and son failed to settle in Scotland and his second season at the club has been spent apart from them. He doesn’t complain about that either, disclosing matter-of-factly that he recently went a month without seeing them. “It’s not a hardship really if you’ve got a fantastic job and get paid well,” he shrugs. At least if they want to see him, they can always tune into the coverage of the Champions League? “My boy’s only five, he’s more interested in Scooby Doo than the Champions League,” quips Telfer, but a decision has already been made to return to his family home in Winchester and seek a nearby, probably London, club to finish his playing career at. And, when it comes to football, that will be that. Coaching doesn’t interest him. Too much profile. Telfer doesn’t mind the occasional interview with newspaper journalists, but rejects any other media duties and is especially loth to appear on television.
There will be no dilemma ahead even if Celtic offer him another year. “I won’t be staying another season,” he says, categorically. “I appreciate what I’ve had here the past couple of years, but I’ll be heading back down south. My family comes first. I’m not sure whether I’ll want to keep playing, but at the moment that’s the intention. I feel fit enough so hopefully if I’m still enjoying it I’ll find a club. I think I can rule out Portsmouth though.” The latter comment, a reference to his Southampton past, is typical of his deadpan humour. So too a quip about “all the contract focus being on Shaun [Maloney] when me and Lenny [Neil Lennon] could be out the door for free”. Telfer is content to present himself as the man of no importance.
Strachan appreciates him, though. Appreciates, too, that perhaps he has sometimes embarrassed his player in his efforts to persuade the critics they are wrong. For that reason, a couple of Telfer anecdotes from his manager remain off-the-record because “Paul wouldn’t like them known”, but there are too many examples for Strachan to self-censor them all. He does cite the time when Telfer was out of contract at Coventry, but refused to sign another until a broken leg was healed. “He went without pay for five months,” said Strachan. One of Strachan’s sons went to see Telfer soon after the injury to see if there was anything he could do to help. Ever practical and reluctant to think of himself, Telfer suggested he might clean his car.
His long association with Strachan means any opinion of him is bound to have a certain bias, but possibly feeling he owes him a compliment or two, Telfer delivers when asked about Strachan’s Celtic contribution. “As a manager, I think he’s got the potential to manage any club in the world,” says Telfer. “When he first came here he got off to a terrible start, but now I don’t think he could be doing any more to be honest. People down south talk down the SPL and say, ‘Ach, it’s only Celtic and Rangers’, but it’s no walkover.”
The Celtic manager gives two recent instances of conversations with his full-back. The first came after the Manchester United game when Telfer was expressing bemusement that Sir Alex Ferguson had got his tactics so wrong. When Strachan asked for an explanation for this remark, the self-deprecating Telfer explained that “any coach in the world would say to Ronaldo, ‘You’re getting no joy against Lee Naylor, so go against Telfer, he’s an old man’.” An old man, it should be emphasised, that the Champions League has made very happy. Strachan also related a recent talk between the pair in a sauna. “He was feeling his hip,” says the manager, “and I said, ‘When did you do that?’ and he replied, ‘Away to Benfica in the Champions League’, then he paused and said, ‘I never thought I’d utter that sentence in my life’. It wasn’t easy for him last summer with his family, but he didn’t want this chance to go away. I think his wife will realise now that this was a chance he couldn’t let go.”
Telfer is frank that his move to Celtic has exceeded his expectations. At £200,000, he seemed like a low budget stopgap, but has developed into more than that. “I never envisaged myself at Celtic Park beating Manchester United in the Champions League. It’s beyond my imagination,” says Telfer. Across the room from him as he speaks last Friday is Mark Wilson, close to recovering fitness after breaking his foot at Old Trafford. They are rivals for the same position, but Telfer would always rather make a case for somebody else than himself. “I don’t think I expected to play as much this year. Mark has come here and he’s a terrific little player. I can’t understand why he hasn’t played for Scotland already, and it was just unfortunate he got injured. I’m sure he’ll be snapping at my heels again now.”
Telfer knows the end is approaching. It may be that his final six months at Celtic are spent as more of a squad player with Wilson reinstated at right-back. His only concern is that the club finish things off on a “good note” for him by winning the Premierleague and maintaining their European form that has seen them qualify for the Champions League’s last 16 for the first time. The latest attempt at a first away win in the competition’s group stage, at the 12th time of asking, will take place in Copenhagen on Wednesday. “I think we need to be more ruthless away from home in Europe and maybe just focus more on keeping a clean sheet,” says Telfer. “I was thinking the other day, ‘What is Copenhagen’s attitude going to be in the game given they’re out’, but I know the incentives for us. It would possibly mean a more favourable last-16 tie [as group winners], but above all there would be a lot of pride at finishing top of the group in such good company.”
Strachan puts Telfer in good company when he completes his assessment of him. “Good pros will get their reward towards the end of their careers,” he said. “They’re a different level of player, but you’ve got Henrik Larsson going to Manchester United and Gary McAllister having previously gone to Liverpool. You can even look at Neil Lennon who’s looked at his lifestyle, changed it, and is now captain of a team in the Champions League. Paul Telfer just loves to be a good teammate. You’ve met a real man today.”
A real man, who for the past 18 months or so has led a completely unreal existence.