There were not 13,000 fans awaiting the sight of Chris Davies yesterday afternoon.

Indeed, there is a fair chance that not even 13,000 Celtic fans knew who Chris Davies was 48 hours ago.

The 31-year-old, Brendan Rodgers’ first signing as Celtic manager, will take up the role as Rodgers’ number two after forging a working relationship with the Northern Ireland manager which stretched back for 15 years.

The captain of Reading’s youth side when Rodgers was the head of the academy, the two have stayed abreast of one another in the years that have followed. Injury brought a premature end to Davies’ career but a sport science degree and some experience working on that side of the game with Jonathan and Bobby Gould in New Zealand opened the door to a career on the other side of the pitch.

And Bobby, who was former Hoops keeper Jonathan’s assistant with Hawke’s Bay, believes that Davies checks into Celtic Park with a reputation as one of the bright young coaches in the English game.

“Listen, the two key things you need to have in football is a good football brain,” said Gould. “The lad most certainly has that. After that you need to have the ability – and not everyone does – to converse with people in such a way that you get your message across with as little fuss as possible. He has that too.

“Sometimes it is the guys who just didn’t make it as players but who love the game and understand the game who make the greatest coaches – look at Jose Mourinho. Look at Brendan Rodgers.

“Chris is a guy who has served his apprenticeship at Swansea and at Liverpool. He has earned this right to go and take the step up and I am delighted for him. Everyone involved in football understands the colossal nature of a managerial role with Celtic.

“It will be a different kind of pressure from which he has been used to but Brendan has been there at Liverpool and will be the figurehead so he will absorb most of that.”

At just 31, Davies is John Kennedy’s junior by one year. However, Gould expects no issue with a member of the managerial team being one a contemporary of the playing staff.

“I actually think that is something that can work for you,” he said. “They are the same age, doing the same age with the same kind of aspirations. I just can’t see that as a problem.

“This is not his first job in football. He has obviously shown what he can do at Swansea and at Liverpool and even at Reading where he went back as a first team coach at the turn of the year.”

And Gould senior believes that it was Davies’ love of the game that drove him to earn his sports science degree and to forge a career out of football when it became clear that injury would bring the curtain down on his playing day prematurely.

“In New Zealand, Chris still hadn’t entirely given up hope of getting his playing career back on track after a lot of injury problems but he was also looking for a chance to get into the analysis and sports science side of things.

“We invited him out and I seem to recall there was a problem with playing and training initially because of tendonitis. But he was with us for three years and he was a terrific lad. He had a great attitude and he was a great guy to work with.

“It is a great credit to him how far he has come and I know for a fact that he is one of the most respected coaches in England just now. He has a big reputation for having a great eye for detail, for being very thorough and for presenting information to players in a way they can grasp quickly.

“He had come to us a bit disillusioned, as a lot of people can be, when your career doesn’t take the path you want it to. But he showed an eye for detail and a gift for coaching and it has opened up a different career for him.

“He was a joy to work with because he was so open and receptive to new ideas and he has always had a real love of the game. Sometimes when you have to work harder to get that chance then you enjoy it all the more.

“The fact that Brendan has taken him in as his assistant tells you everything you need to know, really. He obviously rates him very highly after working closely with him at Swansea and at Liverpool.

“I know he isn’t the only one. He is a coach who is spoken of highly in football circles and I am sure his CV will be considerably enhanced during his time at Celtic.”