Stephen McManus joined a long line of Celtic captains in expressing his sense of pride of being asked to take on the responsbility.

'..proudest day of my life....'
New Celtic captain Stephen McManus is not about to change his personality after being unveiled as the new player leader. Now that he has a new four-year deal in his back pocket, the time was right for McManus to be named as the replacement to Neil Lennon. McManus started to be more established in the side since the arrival of manager Gordon Strachan two seasons ago. The new status is something he is proud of and he said: "It is a great honour. I wanted to get the contract sorted and that's done and dusted. The captaincy is a massive bonus and it is definitely the proudest day of my life so far. I just hope the type of person I am is good enough for the Celtic captaincy. You can only give it your best shot and I certainly do that. But I'm not going to change the way I am as a person. I'm not going to try to emulate anyone else, I'm going to be my own man and we will see how it goes. And I'm certainly not going to fear anything. I live my life in the correct manner so nothing changes on that front."

There is no hiding place when you are the captain of the side and responsibility lands on your shoulders when you pull on the armband. McManus is well aware of the added pressure that comes with being named captain. He went on: I know that when you are captain at at club like this everything comes on top of you, so it's important that you have a wise head on your shoulders and I will certainly have that. But the most important thing is that you are judged at this club by winning trophies. It doesn't matter whether you are a captain or just a player, it's all about winning trophies and that's what we strive to do. I've spoken to Neil (Lennon) a few times since he left and he wished me all the best and was hoping that I would get the captaincy. There are other people who have been Celtic captain that I can go to for advice as well as the manager and the coaching staff. It's new to me but the most important thing is that you need to be willing to learn and I am willing to learn."

This is not a new experience for McManus as he had captained the side in Lennon's absence and in most of the pre-season games. The formal appointment announcement was delayed by Strachan until a new contract was signed. Strachan said: "The negotiations were going on when we were in Switzerland and in America so it was hard to tie it down. But as soon as we came back it was tied down. It would have been very hard to name your captain just in case something extraordinary happened and you couldn't get agreement with the contract. So that's why I have been stalling and being quite evasive when I was asked about the (captaincy) question. We're lucky we've got a dressing room full of characters and strong-willed players but I know 'Mick' (McManus) is going to be the right choice. The manager-captain relationship is very important, he has to make sure my instructions are carried out. We are close but we will get closer and he is at the right age to start his captaincy and he will set standards on and off the field."

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