THERE is something about Efe Amrbose which just makes you love the guy.

For all his faults as a footballer, for all the times his brain freezes at exactly the wrong moment, for all the goals he has given away, and there have been a fair few during his years at Celtic Park, there is a real honesty about him

Ambrose is what he is. An okay defender, prone to mind-boggling lapses in concentration, and also moments of real class, but he always gives his all. This is why he is the Celtic support’s most guilty pleasure.

He loves Celtic. He truly does. Bayer Leverkusen have been sniffing about him this summer but for the moment he is staying where he is and is absolutely determined to impress Brendan Rodgers and have at least one more good season at the club.

“For me, Celtic is a place I really love and I want to be part of it,” said Ambrose. “There is no place like home – and Celtic is home for me. I’m ready to do everything to remain here and continue playing here.

“You can see the philosophy of the team, the history behind the club, the objective of this group. That is why it means so much to me. It’s one thing that every player dreams of, to play for a club like Celtic. It was a dream for me.

“Since I arrived at Celtic, I knew I’d never been anywhere like this before. Every day I saw that. I knew I had to work very hard to earn the honour of playing for this club, to wear the green and white of Celtic. I want to help the club, to improve every day, so I can make a contribution.”

Ambrose has had problems, not to put to fine a point on it, but he does keep coming back for more. He never hides, he is never anything other than available to play and, while he’s no George Connelly, there is something endearing about the big guy.

He admitted: “Yeah, it’s tough sometimes. But when it gets tough, that’s when you show your character, determination and willpower. Sometimes it has been really tough for me. But I am a man. I never give up, I always stand up. I keep on fighting. I am a fighter. The most important thing is that the club always comes first.

“I am always happy. You have to be happy and content with life. I give thanks to god because we are all here because of Him. He gives us life and the opportunity to be here.

“So, every day, when I see the breaking of the day, I thank God – and then the next thing I think about is football. I really love playing this game. It has given me my daily bread."

Ach, how can you not warm to him? But in saying that, there is an edge to Ambrose and he wasn’t hugely subtle regarding his thoughts on Ronny Deila, who clearly did not overly impress.

Ambrose said: “As you know, the past few years have not been great. The most important thing now is that the new gaffer has come in and we've put all that behind us – and the objective now is to focus on the new season.

“As you know, every gaffer has his own philosophy, his own style and his own ideas about how he wants the team to play. His style is different. The way we play, the objectives he’s set us, and we’ve bought into the intensity. Everybody is willing to give everything for the club.

“The most important thing is preparation, which we are doing right now. In the past two years I don’t think we have had good preparation before the Champions League games. But now you can see the manager has made everyone come in earlier so we can prepare properly and have more time to get ready for the game.

“The games we have played has been good preparation, we are approaching the next game well and are very determined and are focused on their play-off games because we know what it meant to us, the fans and Celtic as a whole to qualify this time.

“For two years we have not been there and it’s not been Celtic. So this time we want to get back to being Celtic, to how we used to be, to play in the Champions League and compete there. That is our focus and our aim.”

Rodgers sees something in Ambrose – and there is a good player in there – but this is someone who has to be told what he can and can’t do.

Celtic supporters have been left bamboozled by the Nigerian who for long spells in the biggest games can look the real deal and then a poor header or daft foul costs him and his team an awful lot.

Ambrose said: “The manager has told me to keep it simple. He told me that I have everything he needs and he sees what I can bring to the team. All he has said it to play simple, don’t force it. As a defender you have to focus, stay compact and he has brought that into training; the way he wants to play.

“I believe has has already helped us individually and as a team. He will help to improve us. We have been together for three weeks and we have already improved. With him, I believe, we can do much better this season."