CARLTON COLE has opened up on a disagreement with Ronny Deila which impacted his Celtic career.
The former striker, now 38, joined Celtic under Deila in 2015 but only played five times for the Parkhead club.
Now, Cole has explained a playing-style clash with Deila played a role in his disappointing spell as he branded his time at Celtic as "disorganised".
Cole had joined Celtic after leaving West Ham but was released by the Parkhead club just eight months later after an unsuccessful stint in Glasgow.
The former England international would go on to play for Sacramento Republic FC and Persib Bandung before retiring from professional football.
But Cole reckons his time at Celtic could've been different if not for the fall-out with Deila over how he was asked to play.
He told The Sportsman: "The manager at the time was Ronny Deila. He wanted me to play a certain way. He wanted me to run the channels more.
"You know what, I can't play like that now, I'm a target man. All you need to get is Leigh Griffiths off of me. You won't see the best of me on the wings. You’ll only see the best of me in the 18-yard box.
"So we had a bit of a disagreement and that didn't bode well. He didn't want to play me as much.
“He was saying I wasn't fit enough. How am I supposed to get fit If I don't play matches?
"I played about five reserve games and he still thought I wasn't fit. Reserve games are not the same as first team games. It's a different level.
"I need to play more first team games, give me 25 minutes here and there. I'll get back up to speed but he just didn't want to do this. He's finding excuses.
"So I've got no bitterness towards him or his staff or anything like that. But at the time, it was a bit disorganised.”
