CELTIC Football Club today confirmed that Celtic Manager Ronny Deila has appointed former Celtic midfielder John Collins to the position of Assistant Manager.

In an illustrious playing career, John made 229 appearances for Celtic from 1990 to 1996, also enjoying successful spells at Monaco, Everton, Fulham and Hibernian. John also collected 58 caps for Scotland and played in both the 1998 World Cup and Euro 1996 tournaments. The former Galashiels Academy pupil has held managerial positions at Hibernian FC, winning the Scottish League Cup in 2007. He was also Manager of Charleroi in Belgium in 2008 and appointed Director of Football at Livingston FC in 2012.

Collins, who was appointed Ambassador of Football at hometown club Gala Fairydean Rovers last season, where he was also signed to play, told celticfc.net: “It is a huge honour for me to return to Celtic, the Club which has always been such a major part of my life.

"I am grateful to Ronny for giving me this wonderful opportunity and I look forward to working closely with him and the players to ensure that we can continue to bring the good times to Celtic.

"I know what a great club Celtic is and I know exactly what the Club means to our fans.

"I will support the Manager in every way and I am sure that together with our players, the backroom staff and the fans, we can all play our part in bringing success to the Club.”