Efe Ambrose, the Celtic defender, has had a premonition concerning a big game for the club in the coming month, during which time they face FK Molde home and away in the Europa League, take on Hearts at Tynecastle in the League Cup and host Premiership leaders Aberdeen in the top tier.
The club’s supporters have long felt as though they could also predict the future concerning key matches involving the Nigeria star. Those visions normally involved a dark sense of foreboding — and were usually fulfilled.
Ambrose was most recently vilified for his performance in the tie against Fenerbahce at Parkhead earlier this month, when his dilatory defending allowed the Turks to recover from a 2-0 deficit to snatch a draw. However, he insists that his own chronicle of a death foretold involves Celtic’s opponents and he is optimistic that he will not be responsible for any more self-inflicted wounds.
“It was good, after the Fenerbahce game, to hear the manager [Ronny Deila] say that he trusted me,” he explained. “He and [coach] John Kennedy have really helped me. When you have a manager like that it means a lot. So what else can I do but give everything to this team?
“I owe this team and I know that, a couple of games ahead, there is a way I can pay them back for all of this. There is a way I can help them and that is a positive thing I am looking forward to. You can never know when Efe Ambrose is going to do his somersault!
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“When there is a game when Celtic really need a goal ... you never know. Of course there will be a big moment. I can never promise how many somersault moments there will be but I want to give something back and I know that that game is coming soon.”
Ambrose has a history of howlers and regaining the trust of those frustrated fans will take time but the 26-year-old has no doubt that his unforced errors have been consigned to the past. “Last season the gaffer told me that I was trying to take too many risks in my games so they have tried to make me a different player,” he said.
“I don’t do that any more, I try to play simple and to just defend. I think I am getting better and I work hard every day to make sure.
“You take risks and you get punished for it and people start to criticise you but sometimes, when you get away with it, people applaud you. This is life. The most important thing for right now is to be positive. My head is straight.
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“Once you try to learn then you will play better. So now I need to play simple football and try to move the ball more quickly because that is what the gaffer wants me to do. It’s good for me if I try to play less football and not take too many touches of the ball.”
Ambrose was offered the opportunity to return to Israel with former club Macaabi Tel Aviv earlier this year, he made it clear he has no intention of leaving Celtic
“I never thought about that because I always had belief in myself,” he said. “The best way to fight criticism is to deal with it and stay strong. You don’t run away from it — you face it and I have a manager who really believes in my ability. In spite of everything that has happened, he has stood by me.
“When you have that — and your team-mates also support you — then it feels like home.”