Return of the King

It couldn't have been more exciting had Pressley parachuted in wearing a white Elvis jumpsuit. Actually that would've been awesome but instead he was wearing the Celtic jersey and the captain's armband on his return to Tynecastle. A mediocre display from Celtic in the first half against a Hearts team running around like maniacs ensured the home team went back to their dressing room a goal to the good at half-time. Mikolaunas hit a wonderstrike from a good 30 yards out to open the scoring with Celtic making very little impression at the other end.

It all changed after the break though with Gravesen sitting deeper and Sno pressing forward orchestrating play. I thought Jarosik put in one of his best performances of the season so far. He hustled, chased and was strong on the ball. Bringing Beattie on for Zurawski caused even more problems for Hearts who were beginning to tire after running themselves into the ground for most of the game. Beattie did well to get onto a through ball into the box and though his shot was weak Gordon couldn't hold onto it and with Hesselink once again in the right place at the right time it was a simple tap-in to draw the hoops level.

Celtic continued to pile on the pressure and the 3 points were secured for the bhoys when Jarosik pushed down the left wing, cut in to the edge of the box and rattled one around Gordon to put Celtic ahead. O'Dea deserves a mention too for some solid defending throughout but Pressley inevitably got man of the match for a no-nonsense performance at the back. Just like his namesake he was Taking Care of Business.

Thank you very much.

Cheering the underdog

Last weeks SFA and FA Cup exploits, particularly by Morton, remind me how much I love a good underdog story. I think it all originally stems from watching cheesy disney feel good flicks like Mighty Ducks and Little Giants with my brother when we were kids. You know the type, bunch of loser kids form a team to take on the well trained and well disciplined 'evil' enemy team. There's the usual sub-plots along the way of self-discovery, making true friends etc. but its all just leading up to that final third act where against all odds the good guys win in the end.

The formula is a simple one but its one still used to excellent effect in more grown-up fare like Mean Machine (orig + remake),Rocky (I - V),Major League, The Replacements, Any Given Sunday, Blue Chips and so on. These kind of movies usually get panned by the critics as formulaic crap without understanding that to the male sportsfan these are far more emotional movies than Bridget Jones and her pals could ever be.

The latest addition to the Rocky boxset hits cinemas in the next few weeks. Yes it'll be predictable, yes the premise will be slightly far-fetched and yes the acting won't be great but I guarantee there'll be many a man with a lump in his throat when THAT music kicks in and Rocky begins one of his inevitable training montages. Box Office Gold.

Kicking 'em when they're down

Where do you start? The fact that we're 17 points ahead in January? The fact that the new great hope at Ibrox turned out to be worse than the man he replaced (and let's not forget how rubbish Mcleish was)? The undisputed fact that Filip Sebo couldn't hit a donkey's arse with banjo? No, I think I'll start and finish with the fact that the bluenoses' mid-season rebuild program isn't really going to plan. Brown and Thompson would prefer to come to Celtic, Quashie has signed for West Ham and the SFA are playing hardball with a certain Waldo Smith. If I could have given Le Guen 2 million quid to cause this much trouble I would've. Luckily Sir David Murray did it for me.