Slane, Paul

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Fullname: Paul Slane
aka: –
Born: 25 November 1991
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 1 Feb 2010 (undisclosed fee)
Left: 1 Jan 2013 (released free)
Position: Midfielder
Debut: Ross County 1-1 Celtic, League, 18 Aug 2012
Squad no.: 30
Internationals: Scotland (Senior side / U17s)
International Caps: 0 / 5
International Goals: 0 / 0

Biog

Paul Slane was a  highly-regarded teenage winger signed on a four year contract from Motherwell during the 2009/10 January transfer window.

He began 2007/08 on schoolboy forms with Motherwell but his progress was such that he was called into their first team squad for the last game of the season against Hibs. Made his debut the following season, still only 17, but came into his own under new manager Jim Gannon in 2009/10. He won rave reviews during the Steelmen’s brief Europa League campaign before being laid low by a calf injury, and scored to become the club’s youngest scorer in European competition to date.

He had repeatedly knocked back Motherwell’s efforts to extend his contract, so with his terms set to expire in the summer he moved to Celtic for a small, undisclosed fee. Hapless Motherwell boss Craig Brown had peevishly threatened to freeze Paul Slane out should he sign a pre-contract agreement, while fans of the “family club” raged at his supposed disloyalty.

At Celtic, Paul Slane linked up with Chris McCart who had been his mentor during his early days at Motherwell. Described at the time of arrival as a “young player who is not in my domain” by Tony Mowbray, Paul Slane set out to impress in the U19s and Reserve XI for the immediate future.

Sadly he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a pre-season friendly at Lincoln and missed the entire 2010/11 season, and then got a loan deal to MK Dons to kick-on in January 2012.

He finally made  his competitive debut for Celtic on 18 August 2012 v Ross County in a 1-1 draw, but he was then sent out on a 3 month loan deal to Partick Thistle from October 2012.

In March 2013, it was confirmed that Paul Slane was let go by Celtic.

Neil Lennon had later remarked on Paul Slane that:

“…he was doing really well but he got a bad injury in a bounce game and that set him back for a while. He had loans at MK Dons and Partick Thistle but it didn’t quite work out for him. With his talent it should have gone well but it didn’t. It came to January and I told him he could stay on with our development side but he’s better than that level. He had the option to stay or go and he decided to go.”
Lennon also added that Slane “… still has a bit of growing to do. He has to find his niche in life and the game. I really hope he finds that.”

He was though to make a name for himself but not one he’ll likely look back on with much fondness in years to come. In March 2013, he had gone to Amsterdam for some rest & recovery, only then for some of his mates to foolishly decid to post on Twitter pictures of what he had got up to with some (likely drunken) aggressive reply tweets to others as well.

He stated that his mates got his phone, photoshopped the pictures (which initially they definitely looked to be so) and ran riot with it. His twitter feed went into meltdown, and the salacious details of it all we’ll leave out of this site for the tabloids to cover. On closer inspection it was a daft prank gone out of control. Jovially you could say that he was the last Scottish footballer to be involved in European action that season, but in seriousness it had dented his career.

He was going out in a blaze of something or other. One report claimed that he had wasted his £10k payoff from Celtic on the soiree rather than a hip operation, which he later admitted was true, so he lacked some nous.

Post-Celtic

After stints at Ayr & Clyde, he appears to have dropped out of the senior game in 2017.

Despite the dramas, he was to be a curiously interesting interviewee for certain social media sites who enjoyed his banter and tales on ‘Open Goal’, before then becoming a football podcaster.

He finally returned to the playing side in the juniors with Lowland League club Open Goal Broomhill in 2022, having found some off-field fame on the social media podcast circuit.

We wished him the best.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Pictures

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Celtic manager Neil Lennon offers to help troubled former Hoops starlet Paul Slane who’s gone off the rails

07:43, 17 April 2013
By Lindsey Archibald

SLANE left the club in January and since then he’s been in the headlines for the wrong reasons- last month pictures of him and a prostitute appeared on the internet.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/neil-lennon-offers-help-troubled-1836570

Daily Record Paul Slane on a night out in Glasgow
Paul Slane on a night out in Glasgow

NEIL LENNON has told troubled former Celtic starlet Paul Slane he will always be there for him if he needs help.
The Parkhead boss has been saddened to see the 21-year-old go off the rails since leaving the club in January but insists he still has a bright future in the game.
Slane chose to quit the SPL champions after hearing he wouldn’t be offered a new long-term contract to remain at his boyhood heroes.
After moving to Celtic from Motherwell in 2010 he suffered serious injury problems and struggled to force his way into Lennon’s first-team squad.
But Slane made headlines for the wrong reasons last month when pictures of him with prostitutes in Amsterdam were posted on the internet.
He later claimed the photos were fake but Slane had found himself in the Dutch capital after a drunken night out in Glasgow.
Lennon admits Slane found it tough to adapt to life at a big club after arriving at Celtic.
But he assured his former player he’ll always be on the end of a phone if he seeks guidance.
Lennon said: “I was there for Paul to lean on during his injury problems here, just like I would be for any player at Celtic.
“He found it difficult to start with, coming to a big club, and I always kept an eye out for his type. We kept him reassured. We told him he was doing really well but he got a bad injury in a bounce game and that set him back for a while.
“He had loans at MK Dons and Partick Thistle but it didn’t quite work out for him. With his talent it should have gone well but it didn’t.
“It came to January and I told him he could stay on with our development side but he’s better than that level. He had the option to stay or go and he decided to go.
“But if he needs someone to speak to I’m here for him. I’m always here for any player who moves on from Celtic.
“It’s frustrating to see a kid with so much talent not doing so well.
“But it’s not just talent that makes a footballer, it’s the personality, the temperament and mental strength as well.You need all those ingredients to progress at a club like this.
“At 21, Paul still has a bit of growing to do. He has to find his niche in life and the game. I really hope he finds that.”
Lennon is certain Slane can be a top player elsewhere because he was a model professional at Celtic.
He said: “Paul was a really hard worker, a good pro and I didn’t have a day’s bother with him as regards to anything off the field.
“He was a sensitive boy at times which is part of his make-up. That is fine – he’s only 21. He needs to settle down and start playing football again.”

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Paul Slane’s parents helping him rebuild his career after mad moment in Amsterdam

By Mark Wilson for MailOnline
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2660728/Paul-Slanes-parents-helping-rebuild-career-mad-moment-Amsterdam.html#ixzz4CupzepKT
Published: 23:49, 17 June 2014 | Updated: 23:49, 17 June 2014

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Paul Slane refuses to accept that a brush with notoriety will provide a full stop on his football career.

After 18 months without a club, the 22-year-old is fighting to return to the game and bring an end to a self-confessed ‘nightmare’.

When Slane was just 18, he won what he thought would be a dream move from Motherwell to Celtic. But cruciate ligament damage was followed by ankle and hip problems as a grim toll of injuries left him in despair.

Slane was released by Celtic in January 2013 with a £10,000 pay-off that would fund a hip operation. But he admitted he blew around half of that sum on nights out, including an infamous trip to Amsterdam that saw photos of Slane with prostitutes go viral on Twitter.

Inevitably, that made him a feature of the tabloid news pages but the midfielder is now desperate to once again win headlines for his undoubted ability.

Slane has enrolled in a summer training camp run by Revolution Sports Management in East Kilbride to boost his fitness and win back employment.

His determination is fuelled not just by his own pride and ambition, but also by a desire to repay parents George and Susan for helping him through such a grim period.

‘When I was at Motherwell and Celtic, there was never any trouble,’ insisted Slane. ‘They know the type of person I am.

‘Obviously, when I left I did a stupid thing. The worst thing about that is not about myself but I was putting my mum and dad through it. My main aim now is just to get fit and show people that I am not really like that.’

What money Slane earned from his contract at Celtic has long gone, forcing him to rely on cash from his parents at the family home in Anderston.

‘It’s not a nice feeling to do that,’ he admitted. ‘I spoke to my mum and dad and said it might be time for me to get a job.

‘But if I got a job, I’d have missed out on my rehab sessions. We came to the decision that I’d keep doing that and live off my mum and dad giving me money here and there.

‘At this stage of my life, I should be giving them money. That’s the hardest thing. From a young age when I made it, I always wanted to be able to help my mum and dad.

‘It’s the other way about just now but, hopefully, I can pay them back in the next few years.

‘I want to repay the faith they have shown in me.’

Slane is now taking forward strides, but even getting to this stage has been an arduous road.

‘I left Celtic and went to Motherwell but my hip was too sore at the time,’ he reflected. ‘I decided to get the operation and it’s been a nightmare ever since. It’s broken my heart.

‘I did the rehab after the operation myself and it didn’t go too well. There were times when it was sore and I was training when I shouldn’t have been.

‘But there were also times when I should have pushed through it, but took days off instead.

‘I’d gone to Kilmarnock at the start of last season but I wasn’t ready. It took me about nine months to feel strong again.

‘I went to Morton at the end of last season and it felt great to be back training. It’s amazing to be playing football and I’m ready to kick on now.’

Slane has not set his sights on any specific level of the game. Four years on from joining Celtic, he just wants another chance to shine.

‘When you break through, people are talking about you,’ said Slane. ‘All your pals and family say it’s the perfect life. It’s a dream for every boy and you are living it.

‘But then it gets taken away from you through injuries. It’s soul- destroying at times. But you need to be strong enough to believe you can get it back.

‘If you are going to feel sorry for yourself, you’d be as well giving up. Even when I was feeling down, I kept telling myself to keep fighting and that I’d get back to a level and enjoy myself again.

‘I think I’ve maybe gone through six operations. I can’t accept that I’m not meant to play football. I will fight until the day it is impossible. This is the biggest year I have ever faced football-wise, so I’m excited about it.’

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