When both Germany and Celtic are named in the same sentence, names such as Andy Thom, Andreas Hinkel and most recently Nicolas Kuhn will be the first individuals that spring to mind – all having made a sizable impact in Scotland during their time at the club. Fellow Germans Moritz Jenz and Jeremy Toljan plied their trade in Glasgow, too, though their impact only lasted six months on loan from Lorient and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

However, all of these players from the region managed to turn out for Celtic more than Marvin Compper, who managed just a single appearance for the club – a 3-0 home win against Morton in the Scottish Cup. Thanks to a multitude of injuries, Compper’s time at the club was a disappointing one for the experienced centre-back, who joined Celtic from RB Leipzig back in January 2018.

The Celtic Way’s Ryan McGinlay spoke to the former Germany international to discuss his career, his time in Glasgow and what the 39-year-old has achieved since hanging up his boots for good in 2020…

Formative years

Despite his disappointing spell in Scotland, Compper’s career was a successful one – particularly in his home country of Germany. His formative years were spent in the respective academies of Stuttgart and Borussia Monchengladbach – making his senior debut for the latter in 2005 (after playing for the second team from 2003-2005). 

The former centre-back was highly complimentary of his first two clubs, who in turn shaped him as a young defender trying to make the breakthrough into the Bundesliga. He said “At the time – and even now, to be honest – Stuttgart had a good academy.

“They give you a good education both tactically and technically-wise – a lot of players come out of the academy from Stuttgart. I was lucky to get my basic education and formation there.

“Once I arrived at Borussia Monchengladbach, the basics were already in me from my time at Stuttgart, and it was more about becoming resilient as a man. This was the time when I learned to be ready for professional football in terms of mental toughness.”

Hoffenheim's hero

The centre-back would play a bit-part role for Monchengladbach, before joining Hoffenheim in 2008. This would be the location where he would play the most games for a single club – 150 in all competitions – as he found a home in his new surroundings.

A team very much on the rise when Compper joined them 16 years ago, Hoffenheim entrusted the defender to start games in their first-ever season in the Bundesliga. Indeed, the defender played 30 times at the back for the Die Kraichgauer, who finished seventh in their inaugural campaign in Germany’s top-flight division. Even still, Compper looks back on his Hoffenheim career with pride over 15 years on. He said: “First of all, it was very exciting to come to Hoffenheim and rise up with the club as we did back then.

“I joined the club in the second division, and helped them get promoted to the Bundesliga. We surprised everyone in that first season in the top flight! We had a brilliant campaign. Admittedly, we were a little bit mediocre in the following years, but we still managed to establish the club in the Bundesliga, of which I'm very proud of achieving. 

“Coming up against teams like Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg at the time and playing against their star players through the years provided me with useful experience, both as a player and even now as a coach.

During his time with Hoffenheim, Compper was awarded a Germany cap by Joachim Low, following his good performances in the Bundesliga for the promoted side. Starting in an unfamiliar role for Die Mannschaft out wide, he came up against Fabio Capello’s England in Berlin in a 2-1 loss, a game in which John Terry scored a late winner for the away side.

Despite the result, Compper is proud that he managed to represent his country – even if it was just one time. He said: “It was very overwhelming to be able to start for your country, being just 23 years old, though it was a bit of a tough game.

“I was playing at left-back, whereas in club football at Hoffenheim, I was being deployed as a centre-back. The team was a bit of a B team, which meant that we suffered in the game due to not playing with each other before. England won, but we did not play well, so it did not reflect well on me either.

“Despite all of that, I am both happy and proud that I got to play this game for Germany.”

The Italian experience

After five years with Hoffenheim, Italy and Fiorentina would come calling for the defender, who spent two seasons with the Serie A team – managed by the current Turkey national team coach Vincenzo Montella.

Though his time on the pitch was fairly minimal, Compper does not regret his move to I Viola. He said: “Going to Italy and Fiorentina was a huge experience at the time.

“Mentalities differ a lot and I had to learn to adapt to a different culture in terms of a lot of things, like lifestyle, routines and how things are viewed, such as training and tactics. Even if I was not playing all the time, I played in important and interesting games for the team.

“Because of this, I grew as a person and a player.”

Rangnick's Red Bull revolution

Surprisingly, Compper would next drop down a division, despite returning home to his native Germany after two years away to join RB Leipzig. There was a good explanation for this, however, as his former Hoffenheim mentor made the call to the defender to join him on his newest project – none other than Ralf Rangnick.

Compper insists that the former Manchester United, Schalke and current Austria manager was the main reason for this move. He said: “Ralf Rangnick was why I went to Leipzig, because I had worked with him in Hoffenheim for three and a half years.”

“When he first approached me, my first reaction was: ‘I don’t want to go to the second division in Germany’, because I was playing with Fiorentina in the Europa League at the time. After reflecting on it, I realised that it was going to be a big and exciting project with Ralf at the helm. At that moment, I was 29, and the opportunity to go wouldn’t have been a possibility again, I figured.

“So, I took the chance and went. It was a very interesting move, but a worthwhile one as well.”

It is common knowledge that RB Leipzig are a divisive football club in Germany – to put it lightly. Owned by Austrian energy drink superpower Red Bull, Leipzig joined New York, Bragantino (Brazil) and Salzburg as members of the conglomerate in 2009, achieving their goal to make it to the top flight of German football in just seven seasons – despite condemnation from effectively the rest of the country’s teams.

For Compper – and Rangnick, too - he was used to this criticism at Hoffenheim. He said concerning the pressure: “I was maybe the one who had the most experience with this because Hoffenheim are a club that are financed by Dietmar Hopp (a billionaire software engineer and businessman).”

“In all honesty, I was used to feeling unwelcome by other clubs and in other stadiums by the fans. As a group and as a club at Leipzig, it brought us stronger and closer together.”

“You can let yourself be intimidated by the noise and pressure, or you can stick together even closer and stronger, allowing yourselves to build your own history – we did the latter.”

Compper's Celtic stint

Leipzig were – and still are – a team going places in a big way, which paved the path for Compper’s ill-fated move to Celtic after three years back in Germany. Indeed, it was another familiar face the got the ball rolling for his first – and so far, only – foray into British football.

Speaking about his transfer to Celtic back in 2018, Compper detailed how his move to Celtic transpired. He said: “I was on the sidelines a little bit at RB Leipzig – not injury-wise but player-wise, as we had Willi Orban (the captain), Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate all at the club in my position – who all went on to be fantastic and world-class defenders.

“I was on the lookout for a potential move and was in touch with Real Betis, Sevilla and Celtic, who approached me because Lee Congerton knew me from his time in Hamburg. They were interested in me then, so he recommended me to Brendan Rodgers, who watched some tape of me and liked what he saw. 

“I had a nice brunch with him at his house and he caught me – he really convinced me to make the move and come to Glasgow.”

Compper would have to wait two months to make his bow for the club he joined for £1 million – a 3-0 Scottish Cup win versus Greenock Morton. Ironically, it would be both his first and last appearance for the club, as this match was the only time spectators caught a glimpse of the defender in Celtic colours.

Understandably, the centre-back has mixed emotions concerning March 3, 2018. He said: “I was relieved and very happy that I’d finally gotten to touch the pitch in an official game and wear the kit.

“Unfortunately, it remained my only game at the club. To be honest, I was not coping well physically, and I had a lot of injury issues. By the time I had gotten a little bit of rhythm at that point, Celtic had already decided to stick with other players in the defence, which was understandable. If you cannot count on someone’s body to be a regular and consistent force in your team, then you have to move on, even if you have these players on a contract.

“Unfortunately, the Morton game remained my only appearance for the club, but I was very happy to have played on that day for Celtic.

He continued: “The first four, five months, they did not work out the way we had hoped. At that moment - with a player who is turning 33 years old and not getting any younger -  the belief in the ability of my body to cope with the level of games and the rhythm that Brendan (Rodgers) was expecting wasn’t there anymore.

“That summer, the club told me that if I was open to a change, they would not stand in my way, but I didn’t want to give up like this. I told them ‘I’m going to stay and fight for my place’, but the club bringing in new players made this fight more difficult.”

There were perhaps green shoots of recovery emerging for Compper when Rodgers left for the Premier League and Leicester City midway through the 2018-19 season in February, as former Celtic manager Neil Lennon returned to steady the ship as interim manager.

For the German, he saw this as an opportunity for a clean slate and a potential route into the first team at long last, though this never materialised. When asked if this appointment gave him renewed hope, he said: “It did!

“At that time, I was playing some games for the reserves, and had some good performances under my belt, which displayed the physical stability that I was gaining back. Unfortunately, when you’re not in the plans of a club anymore, whether it was Brendan or later under Neil, then that’s that, which was completely understandable because of the first half of 2018.

“It was sad for me and my time at Celtic, but I completely understand.”

Despite this negative experience concerning game-time in Glasgow, Compper admits that he still keeps a close eye on his former team’s results, even after five years away from Celtic.

He was adamant to underline the fact that there is no bad blood between himself and his former employers. The St Gallen assistant manager said: “Of course I do! (look up the scores).”

“There is no grief whatsoever against anyone working at Celtic or who I worked with. Let’s just say on the professional side that it was an unlucky relationship. I cherished my time at Celtic on and off the field and I'm following them closely – or as closely as I can.

“Actually, they're still in my football app under my favourites, so I get the alarms and notifications when they have a game or when they score!”

Coaching during conflict

Compper left Celtic in the summer of 2019, joining MSV Duisburg in the third division of German football, before becoming a coach there. It was at this club that his mentor Rangnick got back in contact with him once again, this time to join Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Premier League as his assistant.

This was to be short-lived for the German, as Manchester United came calling for his services on an interim basis, leaving Compper to assume his first-ever head coach role in his place.

For the young coach, this spell provided valuable experience and proof that Compper has what it takes to be a manager himself. He said of coaching and of his Russian experience: “I’m still in the middle of my UEFA badges, actually!”

“Ralf called me over there (Russia) first as an assistant, then he left to go to Manchester. Unfortunately, war broke out, but we were already in the country, so 10 of us as a group decided to stay put. We had initiated something and we didn’t want to bail on all of the players who signed for the club and the project – specifically the idea of Red Bull-style football in Russia.

We decided to stay, and I took over for six months as head coach with a special allowance because I had not finished my badges. It was a bit of a head start for me and it was worth it. We were fortunate because everything that is going on in Moscow is more or less the same way as it was before. When the invasion happened, everybody was really shocked – the Russians even more than anyone else!”

He continued: “It was an interesting time, especially concerning travelling, as everything got more difficult even within Russia, which meant I had some unique experiences when living there. One example was travelling overnight to play FC Rostov, with the fastest way to get there being by train for 18 hours. 

“That was quite a journey for a game of football.”