FOOTBALLERS have a brilliant life. We all know that. They get paid for doing something they love, many of them are on a fortune, and are fawned over just for kicking a ball around a field.

I was fortunate enough to make a career out of the game, so I know that anyone involved in football has to go some to get a bit of sympathy.

But I do feel sorry for the Celtic players who have had hardly any time off between the end of the season and now, when they are all coming back to start pre-season training.

They may be lucky in what they do, but they are not robots. These are professional athletes and even those at the top of their game need rest.

And by that I need proper rest. The internationals have two weeks off. That’s not nearly enough.

In my playing day you got the best part of the summer before you had to report back. It was good for body and mind.

We are not yet in July and some of the squad has been back the best part of a week –and they are the lucky ones.

Scott Brown, Charlie Mulgrew and the like will feel as if they’ve hardly been away before they find themselves running around the pitch at Lennoxtown.

This is something football has to look at. You can’t expect players to play for what is just about all-year round.

It’s little wonder that Ronny Deila has opted to stay at home this pre-season, bar a quick trip to Spain, because a long trip abroad could have really worked against him.

Playing friendly games in Paisley is the right move with the FC Stjarnan matches on the horizon.

Dragging the players to America or even mainland Europe would have been too much – and that’s a real shame.

When I played for Celtic, we often spent a couple of weeks at a training camp.

Scandinavia was a favourite and we would often spend time in Ireland.

As a manager and coach, I always liked to take the team away to play a few games. A place where the weather and facilities were good.

It wasn’t a jolly. We worked them. But it was good for bonding and any new player got to know the group.

But that’s when there was a proper break between the end and start of a season.

I don’t think it’s fair Celtic have to play so many qualifiers given their more than decent Champions League in recent years – but that’s another story.

However, there is a plus to all of this and it’s why I have every confidence that Celtic will see off the men from Iceland.

The players will all be fit. They haven’t really had time to lose match sharpness and it was that edge I always found you had to work at to get back after the close season.

The fear is that the players will be caught cold by a side who while not as good as them, are well into their season.

I think a few of our teams have found that out over the past few years.

However, the short break means nobody will have lost too much fitness, certainly nothing that can’t be found again after a bit of training and a few games.

Celtic have been going to North America since before my time, but we always tended to be at the end of the season when it was a chance to let our hair down – which we did.

They were right not to do so this year. I know it makes the club money, but nowhere near as much as the Champions League group stages will.

But this doesn’t alter the fact that Celtic’s players did not get enough time time to rest their bodies.

That’s why we need to bring back the winter break. In fact, why did we ever give up on that?

I know the clubs can postpone a game in January so they can get away, Celtic have certainly taken advantage of this, but as the season seems to start earlier every year, surely a proper break would be advantageous.

It’s nothing to do with the weather – which can he as bad in March as in January – but it would give the players some much-needed rest.

I remember Martin O’Neill admitting that his team would not have reached the Uefa Cup Final in 2003 if they hadn’t had a winter break.

That pretty much says it all, to be honest.

The leagues in Spain and Germany take a break and their teams do okay.

Footballers, especially those who play at a big club such as Celtic, do have a charmed life.

But we need to help them get better and become more successful.

If we want Celtic and the other teams to progress then the authorities need to give them a bit more help.

Mission is to freeze Icemen out in first leg

CELTIC will be looking to kill off their tie with FC Stjarnan in Glasgow.

Ronny Deila would, I am sure, be looking to take an advantage of at least two goals to Iceland for the return leg.

A few more goals would obviously be more than welcome to make the return pretty much a formality.

I expect to see a pretty attacking system for the match.

Best to get this sorted as soon as possible.

It will be tougher than some might think, although Stjarnan won’t be the best of teams, and if the tie is close at half-time they would fancy their chances of pulling off an upset.

Frankly, It’s not a case of whether Celtic will win. It’s more a case that they better win.

There really isn’t an alternative.

Teams such as this one are always fit and you can guarantee that one or two of their players will be of a pretty good standard.

They won’t be rusty, but then neither will Celtic so there will be no excuses for Deila if they don’t get through.

I still don’t think Celtic should be made to play so many games just to get into the group stage – I’m definitely with John Collins on that.

But that’s the cards they have been dealt.

The one really good thing is that there isn’t a lot of travelling involved.

St Johnstone have to go to Armenia, which is a bit of a nightmare, especially so early in the season.

So I was pleased with the draw and I am sure, fingers crossed, that Celtic will get through without too many problems.

Megabuck deals no longer add up for Deila

THE phrase ‘Marquee Signing” has become popular among the Celtic support this summer.

It is something we would all like to see in a way, a big name coming from a big team to play at Parkhead.

Steven Fletcher has been mentioned and one or two others from down south, but this week Ronny Deila seems to have put an end to that talk.

The manager said the days of the club spending £5-£6million on one player are gone, unless a lot of money from a good Champions League campaign has been banked.

And while in days gone by you would have heard a lot of moaning about the infamous biscuit tin remaining closed, I believe most Celtic fans live in the real world and totally understand the club’s stand.

Why risk unrest by bringing in a guy who might be on double what everyone else is on?

A fee of £6m is not a lot for Celtic, but it’s the wages these guys demand.

I have heard of Championship players in England on millions of pounds a year at clubs that are nowhere close to Celtic’s magnitude.

Some argue that Celtic should look at the high end of the Bosman market, but these guys demand huge signing-on fees as well as a big wage.

Celtic are right to stick to their guns, even if some fans would still like them to push the boat out.