Never a Zero
Sometimes in football you turn up a gem
without having to invest millions of pounds to do so. You may recall the
£300,000 fee paid for Lubo Moravcik which had the ill-informed section of the
Scottish sporting media pouring scorn on Celtic’s purchasing of a ‘cut price
dud.’ Indeed ahead of Lubo’s first Old Firm game in 1998 one hack commented…
‘If anything
the signing of Lubomir Moravcik at a cut price has merely caused Celtic fans
further embarrassment.’’ (Jim Traynor)
Of course Lubo led a rout of Rangers on that
occasion scoring two as Celtic thumped them 5-1. During a press conference in the wake of that
game the SMSM returned to their ignorant ways when one ‘journalist’ asked Lubo… ‘How
does it feel to go from zero to hero?’ The little Slovak’s eyes fixed the
hapless reporter with a withering gaze as he replied through his interpreter…’You tell him I was never a zero!’
Last night saw Celtic turn a toiling first
half display at Kilmarnock into a solid victory and the scorer of those three
goals was another who cost the club relatively little. Kristian Arron Commons.
Kris Commons may not have the sublime artistry of Lubo Moravcik but his
contribution to the Celtic cause since joining the club in January 2011 has
been considerable. His direct style and robust physique, allied to no little
skill, make him a dangerous player in the final third. It is to Manager Lennon’s credit that he
spotted Commons’ talent during their brief time together at Nottingham Forest.
Commons moved on To Derby and Lennon to Celtic’s managerial hot seat but the
Manager kept tabs on Commons and when his contract was running down, swooped to
bring him north for a tenth of his market value. One of his first press
conferences as a Celtic player saw the inevitable dumb question involving
Rangers…’Why did you knock back Rangers
Kris?’ he was asked by one of the assembled press pack. A slightly bemused Commons
shrugged and replied simply…
‘It was
mainly talk from yourselves. There was no talk on our side. The things that
went on in the press-the wages, the money was all nonsense,’’
That the people responsible for printing such
‘nonsense’ were sitting facing him at the press conference was lost on the
assembled sporting media. The Rangers of January 2011 were mired a in financial
crisis that would prove fatal to the club. Purchasing and then paying top wages
to a player like Kris Commons would, in retrospect, seem absurdly reckless. The
sporting media would have been better employed looking into the looming
collapse of the Ibrox club in that period but chose instead their usual ‘Nothing to see here’ approach to matters
at Ibrox.
To say Kris Commons made a favourable initial
impression on the Celtic support is putting it mildly. His sublime chip on his
debut against Aberdeen in a League cup semi-final at Hampden helped Celtic to a
4-1 win and had the fans excited about the new player. He also scored on his
Celtic Park debut as well as his first outing at Ibrox and has weighed in with
important goals in European competition too. His nerve held when he was
presented with a late penalty against Spartak Moscow in the Champions League at
Celtic Park. As 60,000 held their breath realising that a winning goal would
take Celtic through to the last 16, Commons slammed the spot kick home off the
underside of the bar. He also scored the vital first goal against the rugged but
essentially unsophisticated Shakhtar Karagandy just before half time which saw
belief surged through the team and fans that Celtic could overturn the 0-2
deficit from the first leg.
Commons time at Celtic hasn’t been all plain
sailing. He suffered a second season dip in form and confidence which wasn’t
helped by injuries and suspensions. He also had the odd run in with referees
and saw red on one forgettable game at Tynecastle after a silly lunge on a
Hearts player. His decision to stop playing for Scotland was perhaps
understandable given his growing young family and the demands which too many
games and the related travelling were making on him. In a sense Scotland’s loss
is Celtic’s gain as Commons has been in excellent form in the last year or so.
Indeed this campaign will surely see him net 30 plus goals and that is an
incredible return for an attacking midfielder.
Kris and his partner, Lisa Hague, also
suffered personal tragedy when their first child was stillborn. To their credit
Kris and Lisa has turned their personal anguish into something positive by supporting
charity and giving hope to others. Lisa is a Special Ambassador for SIMBA, the
Scottish Stillbirth charity. She also got right behind the fundraising efforts
to help the courageous wee Irish lad the Celtic family know as Wee Oscar Knox. Those of you who heard her excellent interview
on Billy Nowell’s ‘Desert Island Tims’ (link below) can’t fail to be impressed
by her humour, humanity and decency. That this couple fit right into Celtic’s
charitable ethos is an added bonus for the Celtic support in an era of greed
and selfishness.
Kris Commons is now 30 years of age and has
several good seasons in him yet. We all have our memories of his best moments
in the Hoops and for me his deft chip over the Rangers goalkeeper in a 3-0
destruction of now the defunct club remains top. His cheeky sitting celebration
of that goal was the icing on the cake. He is currently a strong favourite to
be player of the year in Scotland for the current season and that is no surprise.
Kris has contributed greatly to Celtic over the past 3 years and will do so for
a few seasons yet. It just goes to show that despite what the media say, you
can sometimes find real gems that don’t cost the earth.
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