Mowbray biding his time

3rd July 2009

Celtic manager Tony Mowbray has assured his new players he will give them time to prove themselves before moving anyone on.

The former West Brom boss hopes to persuade Nancy striker Marc-Antoine Fortune to choose Celtic, after confirming that Paul Hartley and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink would not be offered new contracts

"We are all working very, very hard to make these things happen," Mowbray said.

He added: "It's never easy. Players are just coming back from holiday, it's the same with managers and coaches.

"We have made a lot of calls and a lot of contact and a lot of people have spoken to me as well.

"As I say to them, I want to look at the players. I don't want on day one to say yes, he can go out.

"I need to see them and see what their characters are. We have put markers down, we are further advanced with some potential signings than we are with others.

"That's why you have got to have options, it's no good putting all your eggs in one basket."

Mowbray is carefully building up his personal relationships with his new players in an attempt to elicit their peak performances.

He added: "How do they react to a bit of cajoling? They are human beings and the best way to get the best out of them is to know which buttons to push when the going gets tough."