IN his playing days they called David Hay the 'Silent Assassin'. To fans his strength in the tackle easily explained the 'assassin' part but if they assumed the 'silent' was because of his quiet off-field demeanour they were wrong.
'It was Tommy Docherty who gave me the nickname when I played under him for Scotland. By that stage I had false teeth and I'd take them out for training sessions so I wouldn't speak much. Anyway the name stuck,' said Hay, speaking at his Kowloon hotel this week.
Hay is here as a guest of the Hong Kong branch of the Glasgow Celtic Supporters Club with whom he has been attending various social functions in the past week.
A former player and manager of the famous Glasgow club, Hay has no reservations about being back at his beloved Celtic in the capacity of chief scout. It's a role in which he feels he can contribute to the building of a new dynasty at Parkhead.
'I'm just delighted to be back at Celtic at the start of what I hope is the club's resurrection,' said Hay.
For Celtic have been through a turbulent time this decade, failing on the pitch, warring with themselves off it and falling further than ever behind fierce city rivals Rangers who are on a seven-in-a-row league title streak.