Celtic’s Jack Aitchison has commented on Kolo Toure’s role as a coach.
Jack Aitchison of Celtic
Celtic youngster Jack Aitchison has told Deadline News that new coach Kolo Toure has been the biggest help to him since his arrival.
Toure, 36, was one of Brendan Rodgers’ first signings at Celtic back in the summer of 2016, having worked together at Liverpool, though the Ivorian was a bit-part figure in Glasgow.
The Ivorian ace played just 17 times in all competitions last season, and with his pace completely deteriorating, Toure decided to call it a day and hang up his boots at the end of last season.
After joining the Ivorian Football Federation as a coach in August, Toure then penned a deal with Celtic in September, reuniting with Rodgers again as a technical assistant.
As a two-time Premier League winner with vast experience across his spells with Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, Toure brings a winner’s mentality to an already successful club and coaching setup, and Rodgers will be hoping that he can have a positive impact on the club’s young players.
One such young player is forward Jack Aitchison, with the 17-year-old one of the most highly-rated talents at Celtic having already scored for the senior side against Motherwell in 2016.
Aitchison has now told Deadline News that Toure is the biggest help to him at Celtic, and is even attempting to help the young Scot by offering an insight into former Arsenal team-mate Thierry Henry’s playing style.
Aitchison feels that Henry was ‘unbelievable’, and Toure has told him that Henry and Robert Pires were ‘brilliant trainers’, which is something he will keep in mind in order to push towards Rodgers’ first team.
“Kolo is probably the biggest help to me at Celtic,” said Aitchison. “He’s the nicest guy you will ever meet. He’s very down to earth and he speaks away like a normal person. You wouldn’t know what he’s achieved in his career. He’s trained with Thierry Henry so he’s been trying to tell me what he used to do – the movements he’d make in games. If you’re learning from guys like that, it’s going to be beneficial.”
“Funnily enough, I’m actually an Arsenal fan. Me and my dad both support them. So I have watched [Henry] on the internet and YouTube just to see how he played. He was unbelievable. I wouldn’t mind following in his footsteps with the way he played and the way he scored goals. To do that I will need to work hard. I have spoken to Kolo a couple of times about being in the Invincibles team and about guys like Henry and Robert Pires. He told me they were all brilliant trainers who didn’t just do it in games. Training is a big part of it too. You have to show the manager what you have got if you want to have a chance to play games for the first team and that’s something I’ll always keep in mind,” he added.
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