Fans would be wise to bide their time before judging new arrivals
TWO transfer deals, two internationals, two very different reactions. Rangers fans have hailed the arrival of Bruno Alves like a kid with a new train set on Christmas Day.
In contrast, Celtic fans are underwhelmed by attempts to sign Jonny Hayes.
Many, frankly, would rather have Ryan Christie.
Across the city, you can hardly blame Rangers fans for welcoming Alves with something approaching gratitude.
For long enough the Ibrox support have spent transfer windows standing at the toy shop window, pawing the glass.
Making do with damaged goods like Sebastien Faure and Dorin Goian while the neighbours upgraded to the latest PlayStation.
Alves arrives with 89 caps, a Euro 2016 winners’ medal and championship wins in Portugal, Turkey and Russia. His is a CV to covet. It’s only 12 months since Joey Barton’s capture prompted the kind of hype usually witnessed with the launch of the latest iPhone.
Within four months, the Englishman had gone down in flames like the dodgy battery in a Samsung 7.
Supporters should know better than to swallow the hype by now. It makes more sense to take time to make a reasoned judgment based on a player’s performances.
But Glasgow has never been a city where supporters of the two largest football clubs were noted for their restraint or perspective.
The distaste of Celtic fans over the signing of Hayes is a case in point.
Last summer many had their expectations raised when Brendan Rodgers walked in the door and Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair followed suit.
When fans have acquired a taste for the exotic, stodgy porridge becomes an unedifying prospect.
But Hayes deserves better than that.
When a four-man shortlist for the PFA Scotland Player of the Year was named, only one Aberdeen player made the cut.
It wasn’t new Rangers signing Ryan Jack. Nor was it the excellent Kenny McLean.
It was Jonny Hayes. The same Jonny Hayes Celtic now want to sign. The same Jonny Hayes who had a fine Scottish Cup final last weekend.
Aberdeen fans are disillusioned by the prospect of losing another key player.
Will he be half as vital to Celtic? Well, no.
But amongst the criticisms consistently levelled at wingers is the lack of an end product.
Hayes has been a consistent source of goals and assists for the Pittodrie club.
By allowing him to move to Parkhead after rejecting three bids from Cardiff in January, Aberdeen have acknowledged his role in their recent renaissance. When it comes to the slightly snotty response of the Celtic support, Hayes shouldn’t take it personally.
To describe the welcome extended to Leigh Griffiths in January 2012 as lukewarm would be an understatement.
Had his name been Griffakis or Griffovski, the striker would have been readily accepted.
His off-field misdemeanours didn’t help, of course. But those were swiftly forgotten when he smashed 40 goals last season.
Oddly, few quibble with the decision to sign Leigh Griffiths now.
If Hayes starts like a train, the indifference being witnessed now will melt like snow on a dyke.
Hayes is no one’s idea of a Robbie Keane moment.
There will be none of the enthusiasm or hospitality extended to Bruno Alves on his flying visit to Glasgow to sign a two-year deal with Rangers.
But the reason for that should be clear to all.
Rangers need Bruno Alves to add steel to their backline. They have a hell of a lot of catching up to do to catch their arch rivals.
After signing his contract, the Euro 2016 winner said all the right things.
He hasn’t moved to Rangers to play second fiddle to Celtic. He wants the title. And with a CV like his he wants it now.
But to halt Celtic in their tracks Pedro Caixinha doesn’t need one player of the calibre of Bruno Alves. He needs four or five.
Graham Dorrans will certainly help.
But it’s not enough for the Ibrox side to sign players in roughly the same ballpark as Celtic now. They need to be better.
Alves is a decent starter for ten. But you’d do well to find an Aberdeen fan who would take Ryan Jack before Jonny Hayes.
Now isn’t the time for snap judgments on Bruno Alves, Jonny Hayes or any new signing. But it won’t stop people trying.