Instant Karma’s gonna get us

The difference was almost instant, injecting a bit of direct forward play done at pace. Maloney was a breath of fresh air and the link up play with McGeady was great to see again. He also worked well with Samaras and both of Freddie Mercury’s wee brother’s goals punctuated great build up play.

Shaun Maloney should never have left Celtic and he has admitted that himself. Personally I’m glad he did. He has returned at the age of 23 with a clear head and a commitment to Celtic. There are supporters who thought he was disloyal after the club had nursed him through a serious injury, but If he had signed a new contract at the time he left, then it would always have been a niggle for him to make it in the Premiership. This way he has had a crack at it and realised that it’s not for him while he is still a young player, who will only improve over the years.

He’s not the first to be promised a pot of gold by a greedy agent looking for his cut. Another player on the park should stand as a cautionary tale for anyone being led astray; Jackie McNamara left Celtic as their captain, who could have led them onto the field through countless Champions League nights and held the SPL trophy aloft three times. Instead he chose to wallow in the Championship with Wolves for 2 years. He did sustain a bad injury in his time down there, which prevented him having any impact. Then to be granted a lifeboat at Aberdeen, where he didn’t always get a game and then ending up at Falkirk. No disrespect to either of those clubs but neither provide the kudos of Champions League or can come anywhere near the wage he would still be on.

If loyalty is being called into question, how can this not be levelled at McNamara; played for Celtic for 10 years, arguably only 3 or 4 of those years as a first team starter. The club made him a millionaire and to put a tin lid on it, gave him a testimonial just as he walks away. The in an outs of how that all came about is still debated between camps but as I understand it Celtic opened negotiations on his new contract with a pretty low figure. I’m no expert but isn’t that business? When you’re trading in your car doesn’t the robbing trumpeter sales guy always offer you a couple of hundred less that you expect? Then when you threaten to walk away that extra money magically appears. In steps agent extraordinaire Darren Jackson who proclaims in his best hairdresser, Scottish Alan Carr voice, “Eff them Jackie, I’ll get you a new club.” Wolves come in, managed by notorious God botherer Glenn Hoddle and off they go to sign. The story goes that Celtic get wind of this and phone McNamara, who is en-route to sunny Birmingham. Celtic then, as you’re used car dude will do, improve the offer, bettering what’s on the table from Wolves. No doubt Jackie put his hand over the phone and tells Darren Jackson who gives it, “Naw Jackie! Get it up them. They peeyoor disinspected yoo way that pishy offer. Tell them tay ram it!” So McNamara says “Up yay! A’ve promised big Glenn and he’s got a lovely singing voice.” Probably followed by some high fiving. One question. What chuffing loyalty did Jackie owe to Wolves over Celtic? So he decided to sign up for a one-way ticket to the football wilderness. Jackie must have had a look around him on Saturday and realised that he had really thrown it away. Cheers Darren. You did your client proud. Whatever the pro’s and cons of Maloney’s two season exile, he is back and should now be a bit more wary of giving credence to an agent who is only interest in generating a move to pocket his percentage.

Maloney’s first meaningful involvement in the game was to win a ridiculous free kick. God knows what view Ian Brines and his linesman had to give it but it was softer than Jimmy Calderwood’s belly. What followed was even more of a joke; it was a great ball whipped in by Naka but Stephen McManus clearly used an elbow. It’s no wonder John Hughes was livid, though as usual it was way overboard. Higdon suggesting that Brines is a Celtic supporter and saying that he wanted to knock him out is a bit OTT. Hughes also over-stepped the mark; seemingly he is being victimised and Brines was having a personal attack on Hughes by telling him he shouldn’t be in the dressing room because of the ban he is serving. Ian Brines is a really poor referee, but there’s no hidden agenda - he’s just incompetent, as is the majority of his colleagues. It’s unfortunate that Kenny Clark has retired as he was definitely a cut above.

John Hughes is always good value and Falkirk do try to play football (although that wee Cregg bugger in the midfield is a dirty get). Hughes has done a brilliant job and deserves a shot with a bigger club. Unfortunately for Yogi he isn’t the best interview in the world; he could be explaining the theory of relativity and he would still come across as a numpty. Larger clubs are a huge PR machine and I don’t think that an English club would be keen on a manager that needed an interpreter. Mind you, Billy Davies has gotten away with it for years and every time he’s interviewed he looks like a wee ned.

Thankfully Maloney, Nakamura, McGeady and Samaras were on form to put the game to bed and, unlike the three previous games the bad decisions didn’t decide the outcome. Maloney and Samaras looked a far more mobile, direct partnership and even though they scored 51 goals between them last term, Hesselink and MacDonald looked extremely rusty round the ring, so to speak. With the sparkling display of Maloney, the debuts of Loovens and Crosas were somewhat overlooked. Loovens hardly broke sweat and even though he wasn’t especially tested, he looks a solid back. Crosas was a bit more exciting; he made more forward passes in his 20 minutes on the field than Brown has in 3 games. He also showed a great range of passing, which found a Celtic jersey more often than not. So plenty of positives, but overshadowed again by keystone kops refereeing.

We’re 3 games in and Celtic have been on the receiving end of favourable decisions in each. An extremely dodgy penalty and sending off against St. Mirren, which won us the game. Dundee United denied a total stonewaller in a game which finished a draw and now gifted the opening goal in a game where we were struggling. This is all bad enough but compound that with the fact that Rangers were robbed of victory at Aberdeen when they scored a perfectly good goal (ya chuffin beeyooty!) This has all got my sphincter twittering for Sunday. Any remotely dubious decision could easily go against us. Again not any hidden agenda just human nature. Now if Mike McCurry was referee, that would be different. Reverend Mike has his own agenda, usually hidden in the car park.