Oh! The Deadwood Stage is a-headin' on over the hills

Suddenly, things seem to be moving – and yes, it’s a little unfair to refer to Adam Virgo, Mo Camara and especially Stephen Pearson as dead wood but none of those three have looked like being able to make an impact on the Celtic first team.

Virgo arrived as a “hotly-tipped” prospect who, unusually for hotly-tipped prospects, very few people had ever heard of. I am one of those who suspects that Virgo was one of those transfer targets previously identified by Martin O’Neill but Gordon Strachan ought to think more carefully before buying players from an old team mate in future I fear. The utility man was equally ineffectual in a variety of roles for Celtic but the chance of an extended run in a Coventry side might yet enable him to prove wrong the doubters and there are plenty of doubters to choose from.

Camara, as we all know, had a disastrous start to his career at Celtic, often displaying the positional sense of a lame, partially-sighted woman pushing a trolley with a dodgy wheel around Liedl. On the upside, he is certainly fast so nobody would beat him to the last packet of Liebkuchen.

Pearson is more disappointing and I remain hopeful that he will develop into a more than decent player. The trouble with him seems to have been his inability to make an impact consistently. Celtic have relied much on wing play in recent times whether in firing in early crosses for Sutton, Larsson and Hartson or more recently just using width to stretch opposition defences. Pearson, I suspect, probably needs a really long run in any team to hit top form but that would have to be in a more forgiving environment than playing for Celtic, where the competition is strong in that area. If the expected move to Derby pays off, I suspect he will be one to watch, though it is fair to point out that two Celtic managers have looked at him and apparently decided he couldn’t pass muster.

In fairness, all three players did their best for Celtic and deserve the best wishes of the fans.

The same could be said of Stillian Petrov, who is anything but dead wood. A few glimpses of Petrov and Jiri Jarosik playing together suggested to me that they could achieve great things with Celtic but, alas, their relationship was doomed from the start.

A few mumps and moans aside, Petrov’s contribution to Celtic has been immense and his conduct exemplary. It seems only fair to allow him to leave to fulfil his further ambitions but I would be disappointed if less than £7.5 million was coming in the other direction. Martin O’Neill at least knows his quality and joining an Aston Villa that may be about to experience a renaissance would be a fitting move for a player who, just a few months ago, Lothar Matthaus tipped as Bayern Munich’s replacement for Michael Ballack.

There has also been speculation – already denied - that Neil Lennon might join Petrov at Villa but my money is on that being a non-starter. O’Neill might well like to add Lennon to his squad but has already reportedly identified Own Hargreaves as his preferred option to fill the holding role. Admittedly, O’Neill did use two players in that role in the past, pairing Lennon with Paul Lambert but, unless that is his plan for the coming season, he would be asking his former protégé to give up a last season as captain of Celtic in the Champions League for a supporting role in the Premiership. Right now I suspect Neil just wants to play games for Celtic.

The good news about all this is that the sudden movement leaves room for hope that one or more of those much-touted signings is about to take place and that managing down the salary bill will allow the club to afford a better quality of player.

Now Martin, remember how much you liked Alan Thompson and Bobo Balde?