MARVIN COMPPER knows only too well the joys of being involved in a team galvanised by euphoric highs on the football pitch.

He also knows the heartache it can cause if you dare take the foot of the gas.

The German defender joined Bundesliga fairytale side Hoffenheim back in 2008, just as the former semi-professional team was about to make history.

Read more: Marvin Compper insists he has the legs to clinch silverware for seasons to come at Celtic

Just two years earlier they had been plying their trade in the Regionalliga Sud division before winning promotion to Bundesliga 2. Within six months of Compper joining their ranks, the so-called minnows were propelled into the big time with the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

The dream didn’t stop there. By Christmas 2008 they were top of the table, earning them the title of Autumn Champions with 35 points from 17 matches. They did eventually slip from that lofty perch but not by much, finishing up in seventh in their maiden season.

With success, fame and money came distractions, however, and Hoffenheim began to falter. The following season they finished in ninth and again for the following two campaigns before narrowly avoiding relegation in the 2012/13 season by finishing in 16th.

“I was 22/23 at Hoffenheim and we were a team which was functioning exceptionally,” said the new Celtic centre-half. “As long as we did that and stayed together as a team with the spirit, we were very successful.

“Once we stopped thinking as a team and became more individual and orientated to different possibilities personally, we started to go down. Football is always like that and there are many other examples of it.

“That was the problem after our good start. You see some of the careers players had after Hoffenheim, it shows the quality was there, but individual quality needs to be brought together.

“Success can change people. It’s about the mental strength you have when you are winning to keep going and keep being successful and pushing to be better. You always need to bring that.”

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He added: “When they don’t win games and the way the team is performing [you see it change]. The effort they put in at every training session.

“It’s always a complete picture you have to look at. It’s simple to say they are buying big cars or thinking about other things. You can do that if you are still bringing it on the pitch or at training every game.”

You don’t need to be a football expert to know that success is nothing new to Celtic and Compper will have no such issues at Parkhead. However, the Hoffenheim story does highlight what can happen when a group of high-class players take their eye off the ball.

Since joining from RB Leipzig this window, Compper has been impressed with what he’s seen at Celtic, and insists no such drop-off that he experienced back in his homeland will happen in Glasgow.

“The manager has been here for one and a half years and he has done fantastic pushing the team all of the time,” the 32-year-old said of Brendan Rodgers. “We have to keep on pushing and that is the biggest strength of the big teams, to do it every week. That is the task and what you have to do as a big team.

“I’m only one guy and part of a team always. You do your best and try to grow, but it has to be a team effort at the end of the day.

“I was too young to see it at Hoffenheim at the time, but you have to learn. That’s what defeats and difficult moments are for. If you make mistakes, no problem, but you have to learn and make sure that you don’t do them again.”

Read more: Marvin Compper insists he has the legs to clinch silverware for seasons to come at Celtic

Compper was part of the Celtic group which spent last week in Dubai on a training camp under clear blue skies. As well as getting the chance to be put through his paces – he did admit he may take a extra time to get up to full speed – it also crucially offered him an opportunity to bond with his new team-mates, even if he did manage to dodge the dreaded dressing-room initiation ceremony.

He said: “I’m waiting for this, but I’m not sure what the tradition is here. It depends on what they ask me to do.

“At [Borussia] Moenchengladbach as a young player I was tricked by a team-mate who said I had to stand up and give a big speech. Everyone was looking at me when I started speaking about how thankful I was to be with the team. It was strange.

“It speeds up the bonding process with the team. The training is good too and it will help me to arrive at my best quicker.

“This has to come naturally. You have to perform and be natural. Some will want to be at the front like Scotty [Brown] and others will be more in the background.

“You can’t force it and be someone else. Usually it’s not successful if you do that. We will see where my role lies.”