CHIP OFF THE OLD JOCK

Nygren takes a leaf out of Stein playbook by doing it for the fans

- BY MICHAEL GANNON

HE might have clocked the quote on the statue in front of Celtic Park and stuck in the back of his mind for later use.

Then again, it might just be a sentiment he shares.

But, either way, Benjamin Nygren rolling out the famous line from club immortal Jock Stein about football being nothing without fans was a decent way to endear himself to supporters.

Not that he needed any fancy PR tricks after his performance at Pittodrie. The silky Swede helped swat the Dons aside in Sunday's 2-0 victory in the north east to maintain his side's unbeaten start to the defence of their Premiership crown.

Nygren's first goal for Celts was a touch of clash when he swept up Kieran Tierney's pinpoint cross into the bottom corner. The playmaker topped off the win by teeing up Reo Hatate for a sublime second and his all-round display had Hoops fans well and truly won over.

By the end Nygren was leading the celebrations in the away end - lapping up the kind of magical moment he signed up for when he landed on a £1.7million robbery job from Nordsjaelland.

He then went Jock of the north and said: "I've said it many times, for me football is nothing without fans.

"It's a huge part of Celtic, that's why it's such a big club, because the fan base of Celtic is one of the best in the world. It was so nice to celebrate the goal and, of course, most importantly, the win with them.