JOHN Kennedy has paid an emotional tribute to Glenn Roeder following the death of his former Norwich City manager and revealed the Englishman had a huge impact on him during his time at Carrow Road.

Roeder, the former Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle United and Watford defender and West Ham, Newcastle and Norwich manager, passed away aged 65 this week following a long battle with a brain tumour.

Kennedy, who last month took over from Neil Lennon as Celtic manager on an interm basis, admitted he had been upset when he heard the news and recalled how much he had enjoyed working under Roeder in Norfolk.

“Glenn was terrific with myself,” he said. “I didn’t know him before I went to Norwich, but he was a real humble guy.

“The thing that took me to Norwich was Glenn. There were a number of clubs that I spoke to, but he was persistent, he was very kind and warm towards me.

“I met him several times, I had voice mails from him, I had text messages from him. He really cared. It was the same when you played for him. You wanted to play for him. He was a really good guy, a terrific man.

“It was really sad news when we heard about it this week. I was gutted to hear the news and pass on my condolences to his friends and family. In my short time at Norwich he had a huge impact on me.”