Craig Beattie has lifted the lid on how Martin O'Neill convinced him Celtic were the right club for him.
The former Scotland international is a big Rangers fan but admits the Irishman's candour during signing talks were enough to get him to sign on the dotted line.
Beattie made his breakthrough at Parkhead under O'Neill but came to the fore under his successor Gordon Strachan before the injury bug curtailed the striker's burgeoning Celtic career.
And now Beattie has claimed O'Neill put it on all the line during contract discussions after the forward was released by the Ibrox side.
Beattie told Open Goal : “We went in and sat in the office and spoke to Willie McStay and Chris McCart.
“Martin O’Neill then came in and I remember exactly what he said to me.
“He just had this aura and he knew I had just been released from Rangers.
“He had an assumption or some sort of knowledge of the background and he literally said to me: ‘I don’t care if you bang a drum in the middle of July, as long as you want to play football for me.'
"And I was just like, do you know what? I do. Let’s get this done. I can’t wait. I want to play.”
Beattie made 65 appearances in green and white and scored 16 goals before joining West Brom in 2007.
