Flood on brink as Celts back new Bhoy

CELTIC defender Glenn Loovens believes former Cardiff team-mate Willo Flood has reaped the rewards for his bold decision to leave Wales in search of first-team football.

The pair are set to be reunited after former Republic of Ireland U-21 international Flood was given permission by Cardiff to speak to Celtic.

Flood was at Celtic Park yesterday less than 24 hours after his missed penalty helped send the Bhoys into the Co-operative Insurance Cup final with an 11-10 sudden-death shootout triumph over Dundee United.

The 23-year-old later revealed his frustration at the “stupid” transfer speculation and accused Celtic of being “disrespectful” to Dundee United and keeping him in the dark.

That outburst has not hindered his move but was indicative of his determined approach to his career.

The Dubliner found a place in the starting line-up hard to come by at Cardiff despite having made 18 first-team appearances for Man City.

He sought to further his career at Tannadice and Loovens has noticed an improvement following an 18-month loan spell on Tayside.

“If you play a lot, which he has done recently, you always get better,” Loovens said.

“I have seen him a few times now — he is a good player. We had a good team at Cardiff. He was a good player back then and he didn’t have to leave.

“But he wanted to play so that’s why he made the choice, and I think it was the right choice for him.”

Strachan confirmed his search for reinforcements was ongoing ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline.

Spartak Moscow and Czech Republic midfielder Radoslav Kovac yesterday claimed he had snubbed Celtic in favour of a proposed move to West Ham.

“The final decision was to choose West Ham over Celtic,” the 29-year-old said. “The prestige of the Premier League tipped the balance.”

Celtic have also been linked with West Brom left-back Marek Cech and Manchester City midfielder Gelson Fernandes, while Eastlands striker Ched Evans is a confirmed target.

But Strachan admits it is “nearly impossible” to compete with English clubs or penetrate the Barclays Premier League transfer market.

“It’s very hard sometimes,” Strachan said. “I would rather not just grab anyone to try and appease people.

“If they come along, they have to be of value to us.

“We are trying to do that at the moment but it’s not an easy market out there.

“We cannot deal in England and everybody wants to get to England, so we’ve got a problem.”

Strachan added: “I’m trying to get business done and I think that would be good because I think our signings in the January window have been important to us in the last few years.

“Roy Keane was a great signing, a great presence to have about the place.

“Paul Hartley came in and did a smashing job. Then Robbo (Barry Robson) last year with Andy Hinkel — Robbo was terrific last year.

“So we’re hopping if we do sign people, they will be important for us.”