Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Ben Banks

Celtic star earns 'wow' verdict from former teammate as MLS coach finds American equivalent to ace that left him in 'awe'

Andy Rose has a keen eye on who's up and coming in the Seattle Sounders ranks these days - and he'll be thrilled to find someone like Celtic star and former Motherwell teammate David Turnbull.

The midfielder has endured a tough start to 2022 through injury but still managed to contribute nine goals with eight assists in the first half of the term for boss Ange Postecoglou.

Rose worked closely with the Wishaw ace during just under 18 fruitful months at Fir Park, and knew straight away he was working with someone special.

An assistant coach role at former club Seattle Sounders convinced the former Steelman to call time on his career after a spell at Vancouver Whitecaps earlier this year.

Talented teen Obed Vargas reminds the 32-year-old who, speaking of the Celtic ace on the Lanarkshire Live Sport Podcast , was taken aback when he first set his sights on the ML1 academy graduate.

He said: "One name I speak about a lot from my time in Scotland is David Turnbull. I remember the very first training session he did with us.

"We did a five-a-side. We always did young boys v the middle-agers, and he was the best player on the pitch! He must have been 17 or maybe 18. Nobody was surprised.

"But I was in awe of his balance, his first touch and awareness. He scored one from outside the goal and I can remember thinking 'wow, what a player' when I got home. I was wondering why none of the other guys were as surprised.

Former Motherwell midfielder Andy Rose has joined the coaching staff at Seattle Sounders (SNS Group)

"We have a 16-year-old at Seattle who reminds me of David, Obed Vargas, he plays for the USA u20s. Everybody is like 'wow' because he's 16 but it's kind of normal at Motherwell for an academy product to not look out of place."

It wasn't just Turnbull who Rose was enamoured by. Fellow midfielders like Allan Campbell, Barry Maguire and Dean Cornelius all showed the Sounders coach what can be achieved with determination.

He added: "I saw so much promise in Barry Maguire then too. He was a young player and I loved his attitude.

"I think about these guys a lot when I'm working with our young players in Seattle. I think about the facilities these players get to grow up in.

"Then I think to the group at Motherwell, how humble they were and how badly they all wanted to make it. It's incredible the academy has had the success it has.

"There's an expectation there of who's the next one to come through. These guys were all youngsters when I was there and it was great to see how they handled that first-team environment."

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.