After injuries halted his time at Tottenham, the Kenyan midfielder has been flourishing again in MLS with Montreal
Sean Cole
INTERVIEW
What inspired your move to Montreal a couple of years ago?
I’d had a very bad time with injuries, so I wanted to leave Tottenham to play football again. There was interest in Europe, but I moved here because Thierry Henry was the manager then, and he convinced me to come over. I wanted to explore a little bit and see a different league. Then a month after I moved, the pandemic happened.
How did that affect you?
It slowed down the process of me getting to know the city and my teammates – I couldn’t adapt that quickly. Mostly, I was just staying in the house, which made training difficult. Montreal is great, it’s like a European city. There are a lot of festivals and things to do – there’s always something going on.
What was it like to play under Thierry Henry in your first season?
He’s a great manager with great ideas – someone you can learn a lot from, because he knows the game. He’s a brilliant person as well – any issue away from football, he’d listen to you.
Henry hasn’t had another job as manager since then, but rejoined the Belgian national team setup as Roberto Martinez’s No.2. Could he still be a success as a manager?
For sure. I’ve seen him linked with a few teams – he’ll have another managerial job because he’s a top manager with a lot of ideas. He has high expectations of the players, and he wants to see everyone improve every single day. He’s never satisfied.
You first moved to the UK with Celtic in 2011. How did that move happen?
I was playing for Germinal Beerschot in Belgium and Celtic spotted me. I knew they were a big club, so I was aware of what I was going into. I was proud to win trophies and play in the Champions League, on those famous big nights at Parkhead. I achieved a lot there, and we had a great squad – Charlie Mulgrew, Scott Brown, Gary Hooper, Ki Sung-yueng, Beram Kayal, Fraser Forster, I could name them all.
What was Neil Lennon like?
He was a very good coach. With us, he was aggressive, he demanded more. He wanted us not to be scared of any club – it didn’t matter how big or small they were. He had that mentality, and didn’t care who we were facing.
Tell us your experiences of playing an Old Firm derby against Rangers...
The Old Firm was on another level – I’ve never witnessed something like that. The supporters are so loud, you can barely hear yourself!
You scored in a famous home win over Barcelona in 2012, when Celtic had 16 per cent possession. What do you remember of that night?
The atmosphere was unbelievable, like nothi
