TIME TO BITE THE BULLET
Ciftci now has to start playing it cool, clean up his act and prove Celtic spent £1.5m fee wisely
FOOTBALL fans are most at ease when placing individuals in pigeon holes purely on account of their nationality. Swedes tend to be ice-cool. East Europeans and Portuguese are invariably bad travellers.
The Italians are noted for their histrionics. Truthfully, they are sweeping generalisations with little foundation in fact.
In the case of Nadir Ciftci, however, who could possibly dispute that the age- old cliche of the ‘hot-headed Turk’ is presently the most apt of descriptions?
News that Celtic’s newest recruit now faces a six-game domestic ban for biting Dundee midfielder Jim McAlister in the final Tayside derby of last season not only came as no surprise to anyone who had followed the bizarre story from the beginning.
It again placed a question mark against the wisdom of Celtic manager Ronny Deila s a ncti oning a £1.5million outlay on the striker in the first place.
Like Luis Suarez, the player who seemed to have cornered the market in on-field biting before joining Barcelona last summer, Ciftci has previous when it comes to tangling with authority. And plenty of it.
Not other past acts of sinking his chompers into opponents. But sufficient brushes with officialdom to suggest the i ncident with McAlister was not an isolated one.
In the fullness of time, Ciftci and his club will doubtless proclaim that this is absolutely the last time he will be in hot water. Such words will have a familiar ring to them.
The striker was only beginning to carve out a reputation for himself as a player of some pedigree in this country when the red mist first descended on the banks of the River Ness in October 2013.
Ciftci, who had joined Dundee United from Dutch club Breda that summer, was sent off as his side lost a stormy League Cup tie to Inverness Caley Thistle.
He was subsequently charged with grabbing the f ace of an opponent, as well as the throat of an assistant referee.
Had the latter charge stood up, his t i me i n Scotland would effectively have been over before it had started.
But it was downgraded while the alleged altercation with the opponent was investigated and his original red card was reduced to a yellow. None of which really enhanced his reputation.
By the end of his first year at Tannadice, Ciftci had amassed nine yellow cards. By the end of his second, he had racked up 11 more plus a red against Hamilton.
Ironically, it was his part in a scuffle that went unpunished for which he was best remembered — prior to his altercation with McAlister.
Celtic’s four-game series with Dundee United last spring began on a war footing with three players — Paul Dixon, Virgil van Dijk and Paul Paton — all ordered off in a 1-1 draw.
Van Dijk and Paton rightly won their appeals but it was the SFA judicial panel’s decision not to punish Ciftci for what appeared a clear kick at Scott Brown’s head that defied all explanation.
Having somehow escaped with a not-proven verdict then, a result that allowed him to play in the League Cup Final, you might have thought the Turk would have opted to keep a lower profile as he angled for a move. Not a bit of it, though.
As the crowds dispersed from the final Dundee derby of the season at Tannadice on May 24, the only talk was United’s comprehensive 3-0 win over their city rivals.
By late evening, however, social media began to reverberate with a picture sent from McAlister’s phone that appeared to show bite marks on his leg.
The following day, once the Dundee man had gone public with his accusation and United had defender their player, f urther pictures emerged of Ciftci’s mouth in remarkable close proximity to his opponent’s leg as they tangled on the turf.
From that moment on, charges from the SFA compliance officer seemed inevitable.
Why did he do it? We will have to wait for Ciftci’s explanation but let us hope it isn’t a PR-generated fudge, let alone a denial.
That he did it is no longer in doubt. A full apology to the player who was wronged — something of a rarity in football these days — would be a starting point. Followed, of course, by the inevitable promise that this really is the last time.
If such words are forthcoming, we could be forgiven for retaining a degree of scepticism. Ciftci may not be cited for biting again, but there is enough of a charge sheet to suggest his quick temper will not simply disappear overnight.
It goes without saying that he is no Suarez. Yet he does have a pedigree. He netted 17 goals for United in his debut season and 16 in his final year.
With better service and more opportunities at Celtic, 20, perhaps 25, should not be beyond him this season, notwithstanding the fact he will sit out six matches.
Prior to losing the player to Celtic, Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara eulogised about Ciftci’s talent.
‘Nadir has everything,’ declared McNamara prior to the incident with McAlister. ‘When he’s on it, he’s unplayable. He’s a big game player and a fantastic lad.
‘ Look at players in the past. There’s a thin line between genius and temperament, you saw Zinedine Zidane in a World Cup Final, losing his rag (and getting sent off when France played Italy in 2006).
‘Eric Cantona did it, jumping into t he c r owd (in 1995 during Manchester United’s match against Crystal Palace).
‘Fortunately, Nadir has not done anything like that yet. He has been blamed for a number of things in Scotland. People have wanted him banned and everything else.
‘He has to channel his passion and aggression in the right way. For me, on his game, he is the best player in Scotland.’
It says much about the regard Celtic have for Ciftci that they were prepared to pay such a handsome fee — despite the fear yesterday’s hearing would end with such a lengthy ban.
The Celtic No 7 jersey, worn with such distinction by Henrik Larsson and Jimmy Johnstone, can also now be seen on Ciftci’s back.
So the Turk has heady expectations on his shoulders. Ridding himself of the ‘hot-headed’ prefix is no longer an option.