Colin Healy will not be weighed down by baggage from his past when he walks back into Celtic Park tomorrow, according to the man who has just recruited him. Indeed, Eddie May believes that Falkirk’s new loan signing can become the latest Irishman to restore his reputation in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Just as Liam Miller, another erstwhile Celtic talent, has flourished at Hibernian since returning to Scottish football last summer, so Healy hopes to find rejuvenation at the Premier League’s bottom team. It was the fact that the 29-year-old Ireland midfield player volunteered to embrace life at the sharp end, rather than sit in the comfort zone at Ipswich Town, that impressed May.
“That says a lot about Colin’s character,” the Falkirk manager said. “Any player can come into a team that is in mid-table but it takes a bit of character to come to a team at the bottom of the table. Not many players get chosen by a club like Celtic, so Colin has already proved he has ability by his time there. He will not be put off by going back there, he will thrive on it.”
If Healy has unfairly acquired the label of an injury-prone player, rather than the dynamic box-to-box ballwinner that impressed Martin O’Neill enough to figure in Celtic’s Treble-winning side of 2000-01, he has four months to prove he can make a vibrant contribution to Falkirk’s bid to avoid relegation. Starting, at the place he used to call home.
Healy spent five years in the east end of Glasgow, emerging from Celtic’s youth system after they spotted the Cork teenager. He made his debut under Josef Venglos but it was O’Neill who proved the greatest influence. Healy won a League Cup medal in March 2001, playing in the final against Kilmarnock alongside such midfield colleagues as Paul Lambert, Neil Lennon and Lubo Moravcik.
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It has been seven years since Healy’s last appearance in a Celtic shirt. A move to Sunderland in 2003 was blighted when he broke a leg in a challenge by Youssef Safri, of Coventry City, and Healy broke his leg again before quitting the Stadium of Light.
Two years back home at Cork City restored Healy’s desire and belief and Roy Keane acquired his fellow Cork man for Ipswich last summer. However, Keane’s hunger to swiftly revolutionise Ipswich meant that Healy made only three Coca-Cola Championship appearances at Portman Road.
“Colin is a very good player, enthused May, who was a also midfielder in Hibernian’s first team at the age of 18. “Roy Keane rates him and he paid Cork City £350,000 for Colin. However, Roy has spent £5 million on new signings and the only reason Colin has opted to come here on loan is because he wants more football and we are grateful for that.
“Colin has 12 caps for Ireland and I believe we can get the best out of him and, hopefully, Colin can get the step up that he is looking for and go back to England and enjoy the rest of his career.
“The Falkirk board have given me extra money to spend now rather than trying to stay up with the squad we had, and with players like Colin, and Enoch Showumni from Leeds United, on board, we can do that.”