Ross County’s trip to Celtic this weekend will take on added emotional significance for Malky Mackay.
The Staggies boss will return to Parkhead for the second time this season, having represented the Hoops as a player during a five-year period in the 1990s.
In the early stages of his Celtic career, after being signed from boyhood club Queen’s Park in 1993, Mackay was mentored by then reserve coach Frank Connor, who earlier this month died at the age of 86.
Former goalkeeper Connor had a long playing and coaching association with the Glasgow outfit, along with several other Scottish clubs.
Mackay, who went on to play for Norwich City, West Ham and Watford before turning to management, credits Connor with a major role in his own football career.
The County boss attended Connor’s funeral on Tuesday, making today’s trip to Parkhead all the more poignant.
He said: “It’s very apt that we’re playing Celtic.
“I was at the funeral with an awful lot of people down at Motherwell Cathedral. There was a huge football turnout there.
“Frank was one of my mentors in football. He was my coach at Celtic’s reserves for a period of time, and certainly I wouldn’t have been a footballer without him.
“He was a man steeped in football. The standards and disciplines that Frank stood by his whole career are still in a lot of the players that came through today.
“He was a fabulous football man, he was in it his whole life, and he was a real family man.
“His nine kids were there, and his 10 grandkids and a great-grandkid.
“The whole cathedral was packed out, and it was a very loyal servant to a lot of clubs, one of them being Celtic.
“I was there with a lot of people who are in football, and my condolences go to Meg and the whole family. It’s a sad loss for football.”
Mackay impressed by Postecoglou’s impact in Glasgow
Sixth-placed County face a tough challenge in Glasgow’s East End, against a Hoops side which sits three points clear at the top of the Premiership.
Mackay is full of admiration for the job undertaken by Ange Postecoglou following his arrival in Scottish football last summer.
He added: “I’ve played at that football club, so I know the pressure on everyone who wears that jersey.
“There’s a pressure on them every week, everywhere they go, 24 hours a day – whether you’re in the club or outside the club.
“I understand the size of the fanbase and the pressure that’s on anybody involved with the club.
“I think Ange has done an incredibly good job considering his starting point when he walked in the door – both the perception from people and what the situation was on the ground at that football club.
“It’s great credit to a talented manager who has done very well and is making it a very interesting league going into the last eight games.”
