Former Celtic defender Paul Caddis has opened up on the time he asked Gordon Strachan for a loan move away from the club.
31-year-old Caddis was speaking to Si Ferry on Open Goal (27 mins) as he looked back on the tale from early 2009 when he was looking for more game time. The Scotland cap had been thinking about asking his boss for the temporary move away for months before he eventually bit the bullet.
“I built the courage up and I went in and knocked on his door,” Caddis said. “I went ‘Gaffer I’ve just not been playing much and I’m wondering if it would be good if I went out on loan?’
“And he went ‘No’. And that was it. He just looked at me and went ‘That you?’ and I said ‘Yep’ and he said ‘Okay’.
“That was it.”
Strachan did sort Caddis move shortly afterwards
Caddis bears no grudge towards Strachan and he also commented on how the former Scotland boss did allow him to move to Dundee United later that month. However, the tale of Strachan’s response just goes to show how blunt the 62-year-old could be at times.
There was clearly a fear and respect there from first-team players towards Strachan during his time at the club. That is highlighted by Caddis’ trepidation when asking his boss for a positive move that would benefit his career.
It’s always good to see players who aren’t featuring keen to go out and get some game time. The likes of Ewan Henderson and Anthony Ralston have done so this season and will benefit immensely as a result. But you doubt either had quite as daunting a task as Caddis did ten years ago.
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