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Summary

Walsall-born full-back Lee Naylor was signed by Celtic for £600,000 from Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 24th 2006.

The deal which brought the 27-year-old to Glasgow also saw fellow left-back Charlie Mulgrew, 20, move from Glasgow to Molineux. It was however a transfer which was not met with universal approval from the Bhoys support.

Naylor had spent all his career at Wolves and following soon after the dismal failure of Mo Camera, a free transfer from Burnley, the Celtic support were not pleased at the club looking once more towards the English Championship in their bid to solve the problematic left-back position.

For his part Naylor was delighted to have secured a move to Parkhead and his enthusiasm and obvious joy at joining Celtic was evident in his early interviews as well as his performances on the pitch. Indeed within weeks of arriving Naylor had won over most of the Celtic support with his energetic and tenacious play.

An over-lapping full back Naylor was an asset in attack and defence. Eager to get forward and get a cross into the box, Naylor also ensured he didn’t neglect his primary role and worked hard in curtailing opposition attacks. Although his performances dipped by the end of that season he had done enough to be nominated as a candidate for the SPFA Player of the Year Award 2006/07.

Cracks had however began to appear in his play and as the new season began Naylor appeared to be a different player from the one that impressed during his first six months at the club. His distribution was dire and good opportunities were squandered by over-hit crosses and misplaced passes. Defensively he was often caught out of position and looked uncomfortable when players ran at him with the ball


Less than a year after giving hope that Celtic’s search for a quality left-back could be over it appeared that Naylor, like many before him, was not the answer. He did however retain a regular starting spot - scoring his first goal in a vital win over Hibs - as Celtic dramatically battled back to claim the 2007/08 championship and their third title in a row. Despite his obvious failings Naylor never gave anything less than his all and no matter how poor a game he was having he never shirked his responsibility.

In the summer of 2008 Naylor has been linked with a number of moves back to England and his future at Parkhead remains uncertain with the Celtic support hoping the club finally bring in a top quality left back.

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