Capitalising on Keanemania

MORE surprising than Charles Kennedy’s confession of a drink problem, and less believable a sight than George Galloway crossing the threshold of the Big Brother house, the politics of football nevertheless contrived to render the imminent debut of Roy Keane, Celtic midfielder, a mere afterthought yesterday.

After weeks of saturated coverage since the seemingly fated 'homecoming' of Ireland's prodigal son to Parkhead, even Controversial of Cork had to take second billing amid a flurry of, mostly unwelcome, transfer activity at his new home. It is merely a blip in what will surely become an unfolding drama of epic proportions in Scottish football.

The unexpected, and apparently acrimonious, departure of Chris Sutton; the prevention of Stephen Pearson's transfer to Preston; and, most concerning of all, the ominous impasse reached in negotiations with the talismanic Stilian Petrov. With all this to contend with, aside from Celtic's well-documented pursuit of Mark Wilson, of Dundee United, and Gary Caldwell, of Hibernian, little wonder Gordon Strachan had little time in which to offer more than the customary soundbite.