Shaun Maloney? Aye, awright!

Rarely can a player who has achieved so relatively little in his career have sparked such emotion as Shaun Maloney.

In his first spell as a Celtic player, he started only 69 games between 2001 and 2007. Given his first opportunity under Martin O’Neill, his undoubted talent looked likely to give rise only to another of those tales of endless frustration: an if-only player who had huge ability but would never quite make it.

Gordon Strachan’s arrival at Celtic appeared to have been Maloney’s salvation. With a genuine training ground coach who helps players develop their full potential, Shaun was reaping the rewards, with performances that would attract the attention of suitors in the Premiership.

That the player would repay the club’s faith in him through serious injury with jumping ship at the first opportunity was objectionable. That he should choose Aston Villa, to join the manager who rarely played him at Celtic – and who had a record of being unable to properly utilise similar players of the quality of Lubo Moravcik and Juninho – was unpardonable folly.

If ever there was a move that benefited none of the parties, it was Shaun Maloney’s wasted 19 months in Birmingham. In fact the only beneficiary of the process was Aiden McGeady, who was given a free run at making his own the wide left position that Maloney had previously occupied.

So much for the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Shaun is back and, as the fates would deign it, looks to have become an irreplaceable part of the team as suddenly as he left it in 2007.

After two league matches, Celtic looked rusty, lacking dynamism and short of ideas around their opponents’ penalty boxes. An injury to Scott McDonald came after some seriously under-par performances that looked likely to call into question the wisdom of improving his deal after just one season.

The image of our most dependable striker, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, being carried from the pitch against Falkirk was enough to leave thousands of Celtic supporters looking to each other with the same thought in mind: “What are we going to do for goals now?”

In the circumstances, that was an immense test for Shaun Maloney as he was called to the field and one that may be recalled for months, if not years, to come when assessing his place in Celtic.

Had Maloney flopped, they would have heard the catcalls as far as his birthplace in Sarawak. Instead, everything that had appeared to be wrong with Celtic in the past two games suddenly appeared to be right. The movement, the speed on the ball, the ability to release a pass at just the right time were all there. And more than that: somehow the same thing seemed to click with Georgios Samaras, with Scott Brown, with Aiden McGeady and Shunsuke Nakamura all at the same time.

Partly that might be due to general improvements in the team, partly because Falkirk approached the game with their usual admirable commitment to passing football.

But the images that will most commonly be recalled are of Maloney reviving a team that just might have looked to be in trouble had things gone another way.

Maybe he was just lucky – that’s twice this week – but there will be no excuses for him failing to learn his lesson this time.

Shaun, this time stick to where you’re wanted and best off!






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Phew! SFA cured of deafness to disown Scots booing own anthem!

Scotland’s latest 0-0 draw with Northern Ireland (the one in which visiting fans were heard to boo any player even suspected to be a supporter of any team with close cultural links to the Republic) appears to have caused consternation amongst those in the know at the SFA (which, for the avoidance of doubt does not stand for “Sweet Fanny Adams” or any less polite descriptive terms).

Apparently, the disquiet was caused by some Scotland fans booing “Northern Ireland's national anthem”, God Save the Queen, according to The Herald’s Martin McMillan, (a writer who exists in name only). The association that ruled “no action” over the Unionist Supremacists’ songbook and has yet to notice racist singing against Scotland’s Irish community was "obviously disappointed that a minority of our fans chose not to respect the visitors' national anthem.”

"The Tartan Army have a richly-deserved reputation as fantastic ambassadors for their country. We do not condone this kind of behaviour."

Furthermore, though the Scotsman wasted only a few lines on the matter, The Herald’s “Name-With-No-Man” reassured us that UEFA spokesman William Gaillard was unable to impose sanctions against Scotland.

The Herald also found an indignant spokesman for the Tartan Army and an unnamed Scottish Government source while even FIFA were mentioned, if only to be declared as disinterested.

With all due respect to the non-existent Martin McMillan, a name that The Herald often applies to PA Scotland stories coined by Rangers historian Ronnie Esplin, a brief moment’s consideration of the facts would have saved the paper some column inches and the Sweet FA the embarrassment of making fools of themselves.

“God Save the Queen” is Northern Ireland’s “national anthem” by dint of the provincial counties’ inclusion in the United Kingdom – an honour shared with Scotland, Wales and England.

It is therefore unfeasible to hold the Scottish fans to account for booing what is, officially, their own anthem.

That, the SFA and The Herald might like to ponder, makes this latest report, officially a non-story. Now, if anyone at either institution has any time to spare, they might question the relevance and good taste of songs referring to the Irish potato famine, the defining event in creating the Irish diaspora, of which Scotland’s Irish community is only one unique manifestation.

Sound bites at the ready, folks, it must be coming soon.






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Evander the real deal and an opportunity missed

In the most entertaining football biography ever, Tony Cascarino recounted an incident involving Jack Charlton.

Members of the Republic of Ireland squad were showing off to each other, practising tricks, none of which impressed the boss. Eventually Big Jack took the ball and said: “Have you seen the one I can do?” He then rolled the ball a few yards with the side of his foot before saying, “Hardest thing in football,” and walking off.

The lesson was obvious – fancy touches look very clever but those players who can just take up good positions, control the ball and reliably move it to a team-mate are a rare and often under-appreciated breed.

I was reminded of that with the news that Evander Sno had left Celtic for Ajax. Having never played a first-team game for Feyenoord, Sno nevertheless arrived at Celtic in 2006 as a hot tip for future success. Early on in his Celtic career he looked likely to justify that expectation, marrying his height and athleticism with a cool head and an admirable ability to play simple passes in high-pressure games.

He was soon being compared to Neil Lennon and thought of as a natural successor to the former captain, though Sno’s mobility prompted many to predict that he would be a star of international standing (indeed he was soon to be included in the Netherlands full squad).

However, there is nothing as unreliable as precocious talent. Partly hampered by injuries, far from cementing his position as a regular midfield starter, in his few appearances in the earlier part of his second season, the player look to have regressed. The cool head appeared to have lost its way to a casual attitude, the first touch was less sound and the passing careless. In one of the most unforgiving areas of the park, he suddenly seemed to be a liability and far from a viable option in the team.

Still, there remained signs that there was immense potential if Evander could channel his frustration at drifting to the fringes of the squad towards tidying up his game rather than simply looking elsewhere. Like many a young man in a hurry he seemed to want a quick fix for the symptoms of his decline rather than working to find a cure.

Today, he has another chance and one that I suspect he will exploit to the full. Under the tutelage of Marco Van Basten – a man who clearly still believes in him – he has the opportunity to return to his home country and establish himself at one of Europe’s foremost clubs.

It will be no surprise to me or many other observers if he becomes a fixture in the Ajax and Dutch national teams before long, and that prospect will cause many to watch the player’s progress wistfully. There is room for a feeling that Celtic lost an opportunity with Sno – but the burden of proof lies with him.

Good luck, Evander.





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