Callum McGregor reckons he might never have made it as a Celtic player if it wasn't for Tommy Burns.
The current Parkhead captain has made more than 350 appearances for the Premiership leaders and has been an integral part of the transition into the Ange Postecoglou era.
McGregor been at the club since he was six-years-old with only a single season on loan at Notts County breaking up his 21-year stay.
He's well on his way to becoming a Celtic legend but it was another iconic figure at Parkhead who McGregor credits for setting him on his way.
Burns, who served as manager between 1994-97, was a first-team coach at the club as McGregor was coming through the ranks during the Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan years.
But he fondly remembers Burns finishing up his duties at Lennoxtown and reporting straight to the academy at Barrowfield to spur the youngsters on.
And he remembers Burns telling him to watch the first-team players closely whenever he could and follow their example.
McGregor said on the Celtic View podcast: "Tommy, God bless him, used to say 'Just watch people and follow everything they do.'
"That was the example. Guys like Aiden McGeady had made the step up and had what it took. It was just trying to watch them as much as we could to see what they did off the park and on it to have that impact.
"Tommy was a real role model for the academy. He was the first-team coach, but he would come down to Barrowfield at 5pm.
"Jimmy the groundsman would be saying 'right, lights off, the boys have school in the morning.'
"But Tommy would go 'no, more corners, more free-kicks.' He just wanted to be on the training pitch constantly, and for us, who better to be coaching you and watching your session?
"At 10 or 11, you didn't want to come off the pitch anyway, but especially when someone like Tommy Burns is coaching the session.
"I'd say 'this is amazing, I'm staying all night.'
"At Barrowfield you could see Celtic Park in the background as well and that's where you had to aspire to get to.
"Tommy was a huge, huge part of that. His enthusiasm for football, he was putting in all those hours as a first-team coach then more, coming down to watch the youth team at 10 years old.
"He didn't have to do that but that's how special he was. He wanted to let everyone know he was watching us, and it gave me belief that I had a real chance of making it."
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