While Jackie McNamara yesterday reiterated that he had long accepted that Gary Mackay-Steven would be leaving his club at the end of the season Dundee United's manager still found the way his Celtic counterpart went about his business in luring the player distasteful.
The former Celtic favourite is only too well aware of the potentially unsettling effect on players of Old Firm interest and, with his team still in contention to prevent the champions from defending their Premiership title he made it clear yesterday that he felt the tactics Ronnie Deila had employed had been inappropriate.
"He (Deila) has got his own way of doing things but I wouldn't want to speak about one of his players under contract... for our clubs and for our fans to see that isn't good," said McNamara as it was confirmed that Mackay-Steven will be joining Celtic in the summer.
""So would I go out and speak about another player under contract and say I want to take him just now? No.
"Regardless of their manager wanting him now, that's not the case for me. He shouldn't be speaking about that.
"The important thing is to have him (Mackay-Steven) focussed on the Inverness game and playing a big part in the team for the rest of the season."
United issued a statement yesterday saying "several attempts" had been made to keep the player, including an offer that "would have made him one of the highest earners at Tannadice."
However McNamara has always had a pragmatic view, given the superior spending power available elsewhere and is confident Mackay-Steven will still play a major part in the pursuit of trophies, with United third in the Premiership and still in both major domestic cups.
"From the start of the season we have been preparing ourselves to lose GMS for nothing in the summer," he said.
"The club was always prepared for him leaving for nothing in the summer because it's worth every penny of that financial hit to keep him here until the end of the season.
"He's crucial to us, you can see that in the last three games where he's been a huge influence on us getting points, so there's no change.
"Obviously the fans will find out that he's going and he has to accept certain things may come with that, but he's a good boy and been a great servant to us so we are hopeful after he goes at the end of the season he'll go on and be successful in his career.
"Of course he'll want to end on a high. From pre-season he'd said that he wants to win a trophy with United so in his mind nothing has changed and in my mind nothing has changed.
"It will possibly help him to have his future settled rather than the uncertainty of running down his contract. That's the other side of it that could work in our favour for the run-in.
"He's in the squad for this game so we'll see how he reacts tomorrow and how he handles the things that might come with it, but he's a good sensible boy and hopefully now he can just get on with playing for us for the rest of the season.
"I'm sure every United fan, like myself, will want him to finish this season strongly and be successful with us then go with our best wishes."
Then prospects of him doing so were enhanced yesterday with McNamara indicating that former ex-Motherwell striker Henri Arnier will be signing for the club subject to a medical.
"He's got a good amount of experience for a young lad so it's a good addition for us," the United manager said of the 24-year-old Estonian internationalist.
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