Jefferies labels Pressley one of his 'best ever' recruits as a manager

JIM Jefferies, the Kilmarnock manager who signed Steven Pressley from Dundee United when he was in charge at Tynecastle, yesterday described Hearts' loss as Celtic's gain and predicted the centre-back's footballing brain and leadership qualities would soon make him a first choice at Parkhead.

Jefferies, who ranks Pressley alongside fellow Scottish internationalist David Weir among the best footballers he's worked with during nearly two decades in management, won't be surprised if Pressley makes his debut against Kilmarnock this afternoon and goes on to establish himself under Gordon Strachan.
Click to learn more...

"It's a great move for Steven [to join Celtic] and I am delighted for him," said Jefferies, who recruited Pressley in 1998 when the defender was out of contract. "He had a fantastic chance to play in the Premiership with Charlton, especially at his age with a young family. But, Celtic is also a great move for him at this stage of his career and it's Hearts loss. It's as simple as that.

"That just shows you how good he is that when Celtic have their injury problems at the back they go for Steven. They will be delighted to get someone of his quality to come in after Gary Caldwell and Bobo Balde suffered injuries. He will probably play against us.

"The younger lads will definitely learn from him. He is a leader and he will set a great example. He's a great professional. Steven will play on another two or three years. He's looked after himself well and he is committed. He won't need to do a lot of running because upstairs he can read the game. Steven will do really well for Celtic.

"Aberdeen have just signed a 40-year-old [Craig Brewster] to play in the SPL who looks after himself and is as fit as anybody. Steven's every bit as professional off the park [as Craig]. So anything's possible. I can definitely see Steven playing regularly at Celtic, every week."

Recalling his own involvement for Hearts in recruiting Pressley from Tannadice without paying a fee, Jefferies added: "I took him to Hearts on a Bosman and he has to rate as one of my best ever signings. You can analyse players who are good in certain positions. When I was manager of Falkirk I took Simon Stainrod and he took the division by storm. He had strength, tricks up his sleeve and made people look silly. That's why we won the First Division.

"And when Hearts won the Scottish Cup we had great midfield players - Colin Cameron and Neil McCann were buzzing - so it's hard to single out one player, when you have been in the game for 18 years, who is the best. But if you are talking about a defender then Davie Weir was also fantastic for me. Pressley's up there with the best of them. When we took him he was the one to replace Weir because we knew we were losing him.

"Steven was out of contract at Dundee United and we had a meeting. It was at a wee restaurant in the middle of nowhere in a room upstairs. He was delighted to come to Hearts. Before Weir left we had him in at right-back. But once Davie moved on we put him in at centre half and he was a great Bosman signing. At that time Steven was probably worth £400,000 or £500,000."

Taken from the Scotsman