Chris Killen's career has never quite got off the ground at Celtic Park. Last season he made the decision to travel to the Beijing Olympics with the New Zealand national team rather concentrate on his position at the club and that has cost him dearly. He was allowed to leave on loan to Norwich City in January but only managed four sub appearances before returning to Glasgow where he was unable to play because his registration remained with Norwich for the remainder of the agreed loan spell.
"My season was ruined because my registration was with Norwich so I couldn't play for Celtic." he said. "It was so frustrating because I had to sit and watch rather than help the lads on the pitch. I was desperate to be out there and there were times the strikers were struggling but I couldn't do anything about it."
"A lot of people were asking me if I hadn't got over the knee op that cost me the first four months of the season." he continued. "They didn't realise I was perfectly fit and could have been playing but wasn't allowed to because of the red tape."
"I didn't enjoy watching the lads struggling and not being able to help them out." said the New Zealand international. "Scott was holding the fort by getting goals but the other lads weren't scoring. Gordon was trying all sorts to make it work. He was chopping and changing between Jan and Georgios week in, week out but couldn't turn to me or Cilian Sheridan because he had been loaned to Motherwell. It was frustrating and disappointing. I went on loan on the last day of the window and left without starting a game."
"I had gone down there believing I would get first-team football." he said. "That was why I went in the first place but it soon became clear that wasn't going to happen. I was told I was going down to play, so I expected to be playing. When I went down there, Bryan Gunn had two boys playing up front who weren't scoring regularly but he stuck with them every week."
"It was frustrating because I wasn't given the chance." said Killen. "If they had been scoring goals left, right and centre I would have held my hands up and said I didn't deserve a crack at it, but that wasn't the case. In the first three or four weeks, I would come on for 10 minutes as a substitute and that was about it. Training wasn't great either. I just needed to get back up the road and get good facilities and good training."
"But I had signed for the remainder of the season," he continued. "So I was stuck with it. I wasn't featuring at all so I had a word with the manager to ask what was going on. I wasn't getting any straight answers, so I asked if I could head back up the road. My family was still here and I could train at Lennoxtown, so they agreed to let me go back. The lesson I learned from it was that if it happens again, I will have to think through my move far more carefully. I got the call about Norwich on the Friday and I was down there by the Saturday and signed, so it was all done in a rush on the last day of the window."
Tony Mowbray brought Killen to Scotland three years ago and the striker feels that if Mowbray was installed as the new boss then his career at Celtic could finally take-off. "The way I see it now, there is a clean slate at Celtic with a new manager coming in." he said. "Tony signed me from Oldham for Hibs. I got on really well with him and everyone who has worked with him will say the same as me. He is a football manager and he wants you to play football. That is drilled into you and it is enjoyable working for him because he wants you to play the game the right way.
"It is enjoyable for the players on the pitch and on the training ground and it is enjoyable for the fans to watch the football he orders his team to play." said the striker. "He is definitely the right type of guy to take Celtic forward. The style of football he likes to play will have the fans loving it. He didn't abandon that style at West Brom, even though they got relegated. They played some of the most attractive football in the Premiership but playing the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea doesn't make life easy for you."
"It would be great if he came up. I'd love to team up with him again." said Killen. "I've heard reports from people back home over the past couple of days that my name has been mentioned but I am in no hurry at all to leave Celtic. This season has been a write-off for me and I want to have a real go at it next time. The change in management will freshen everything up and I am really keen to get started again."