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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Aidan Macdonald

Celtic hero Mark Wilson makes coaching return with Partick Thistle youth role

Mark Wilson has made his return to Scottish football in a coaching role after being sacked by Brechin City three years ago.

The former Celtic defender, who also had a spell at Dundee United, has been appointed Partick Thistle U18s boss.

The club's academy director Craig Dargo confirmed the appointment, saying: "We’re really pleased to welcome Mark to the Thistle Weir Youth Academy, I consider it a coup for the Academy that we have managed to secure his services.

"Mark knows exactly what it takes to play his part in developing young talent and, alongside his own extensive playing experience, he will be someone who the players can both learn from in terms of good habits off the pitch as well as learning from his technical skillset on the pitch.

“Mark will be an asset to the strong coaching staff we already have in place, who are all equally passionate, skilled and invested in player development and the future of the Academy.

"It’s clear that all of our players are excited to learn from the experiences of our coaching staff and I’m delighted Mark is the latest addition to the team.”

Meanwhile, Chris Sutton reckons Celtic are missing a striker of Giorgos Giakoumakis' quality to back up starman Kyogo Furuhashi.

The Greek international left the Hoops at the beginning of 2023 after becoming frustrated with a lack of game time under the leadership of Ange Postecoglou.

Giakoumakis was mainly utilised from the bench for Celtic, but despite the lack of minutes, he still produced plenty of goals at key moments for his side.

Sutton reckons Brendan Rodgers side are missing that impact from the bench this season and he believes if they had that sort of firepower on the sidelines then Celtic could have already picked up more points in the Champions League this season.

He wrote on Twitter: "We shouldn’t look back but I miss Giorgos Giakoumakis and so do Celtic…"

Celtic last night earned their first point of the Champions League group stage with a 2-2 draw against Atletico Madrid at Parkhead.

On the match, Sutton said: "Tremendous first half from Celtic but ran out of steam. Not enough belief and bravery in possession in the second half.

"Brendan not throwing Oh on tells its own story. Maeda not clean enough with his link-up as a central striker. Atletico really excellent at s***housery…"

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