JOHN KENNEDY has revealed that the success he is enjoying as Celtic coach has made him forget all about the disappointing end to his playing career.

The central defender had to hang up his boots aged just 26 after never fully recovering from a horror tackle suffered on his Scotland debut against Romania at Hampden in 2004. Kennedy, though, has put the past behind him and instead thrown himself into coaching, moving from helping the kids at the Celtic academy to become one of Ronny Deila's right hand men with the first-team squad this season.

Kennedy, now 31 years old, insists he has no lingering bitterness about how his playing days ended, preferring to focus on his prospects as a coach and, one day, a manager.

He said: "Do I ever feel angry about what happened to me as a player? No. It's totally gone, 100%. Early on I was given the hope of coming back to play and managed to do that for a short period. But as soon I had to retire I thought, "Right, that's it. It's gone".

"There was no point in me wasting energy on a tackle that put me out the game for two years. It is done and dusted and I gave myself the goal of trying to get back fit again. When I got fit again I tried to get back in the first team. From there I set a new target and eventually reached the end. But there is no bitterness there at all.

"I don't regret anything. When I got injured it happened and I gave it everything to get back to where I was. I'm in a new place now with a new position and that's all I focus on.

"The gaffer is very good, he gives everybody responsibility in different areas. I tend to do more defensive work with the back four. John Collins does more of the attacking work. That makes sense after the positions we played. If it's more of a team thing the gaffer will take charge of that.

"It's certainly a job I'm finding very enjoyable. We all have a stay on team selection and on things going forward. He's very good at listening which is the most important thing because you feel you've got a manager willing to take on board your opinions.

"As a staff we have a group who are unified. When we win a cup or a league you feel a part of it. Being in the backroom staff and management it's special. You have been part of the building process and dealt with the critics right at the start.

"That brought us closer together. Maybe Aberdeen away has been the turning point and since then we have gone from strength to strength. Lifting the trophy on the last day will be special again."

It was tough for Deila to start with with Celtic being knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers not once but twice. Kennedy revealed it was during that time that the closeness between the coaches was formed.

He added: "Early on, when things were tough, we had to be strong as a backroom team. We had to remain focused and stick by what we believed. We were always sure of what we thought we needed to get is there. It's just sometimes it takes longer than you hope.

"I think that was the biggest thing in the start. We were looking to get to a certain level and it was moving slower than we hoped for.

"In that period you just need to manage your way through the situation. We had to make sure we were winning games as often as possible but at the same time make sure we were taking steps forward. We couldn't just look at each game and thing "let's just win this and that'll take care of business".

"We needed to have a longer-term view than that and that's what the manager brought. It was sticky to start with but we came through it. Albeit we never got into the Champions League but looking back now we're probably a stronger group on the back of that."

Kennedy admitted working with Deila had made him a better coach. "Ronny has a different view from managers I've worked with in the past, he's very development driven and the way he deals with a player one on one is different.

"Very rarely does he get really angry and uptight and just tell a player what to do. He sits them down and that's something from my perspective that's important.

"He gives them things constantly and in today's culture that's the way ahead. If you don't do that then they will never learn. That's what the gaffer has done this year."

The one-time Norwich defender wants to become a manager in his own right one day but is no rush to leave Celtic.

He added: "Further down the line I'd like to be my own man, but there's no rush. I'm 32 in the summer and I'm in no rush to jump. I'm in a good place working for good people. You are in an environment where you have to push yourself to get results and perform and there's no better place to perform.

"At no time did I think I'd be first-team coach at Celtic by the age of 31. You never know what's round the corner, but for the foreseeable future I'm happy where I am."