I THINK Shaun Maloney is a very lucky boy. There are not many people who turn their back on a club like Celtic to go elsewhere and when the move sours they get the chance to return.

Shaun is a wonderful talent and he is a gifted player.

But he left the club against the advice of almost everyone who was close to him. I think he will have to work a little bit to show the fans that he is worthy of winning this move back to Celtic again. Critics should lay off Murray IT wasn't so long ago that it was Celtic who had to put up with talk of protests.

Now, I think the criticism of Rangers chairman David Murray has been over the top.

The guy put a lot of money into the club and fans are so quick to forget.

Despite the loss of Carlos Cuellar they have been able to strengthen and we could be in for another thrilling title race.

I also fancy that he will not have any chance of playing on either flank - Aiden McGeady and Shunsuke Nakamura are Celtic's best players just now.

I can only think that Strachan fancies playing him in a move advanced position. He can play in the hole just behind the front two, but he can also play as an out-and-out striker.

The little and large partnership of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald has worked and Maloney could well find himself vying for a striking role.

Earlier this summer there were rumours flying around Glasgow, as there always are, that he was Ibrox-bound but to be frank I never fancied that had much credibility. He isn't the type of lad who would have been comfortable crossing the divide and taking the flak that goes with that.

He was homesick almost as soon as he left Glasgow for Aston Villa, but he will find that he still has a few points he will need to prove to fans that were disappointed he traded the Hoops for the Birmingham side in the first place anyway.

Meanwhile, when it comes to strikers, I fancy that Gordon Strachan will throw Georgios Samaras into the starting line-up against Falkirk this weekend at Parkhead.

Scott McDonald looks as though he is toiling and he is missing too many chances.

It is all very well saying that he scored 31 goals last season, but when you do that you have to score 32 the next season when you're a Celtic player.

He is under pressure now to come up with the goods and I am sure that if he gets one goal then his confidence will return and they'll start flying in again.

But he has to knuckle down and work a bit harder than he is at the minute.

We all know about second season-syndrome and if he doesn't want to become a victim of that then he has to start producing the goods. It has only been two games but Celtic players are under scrutiny in every single match and the pressure is always there.

Samaras got only five minutes or so at Tannadice and he deserves the chance now to get a full game under his belt and show what he can do.

As for new signing Glenn Loovens, I think he might have to sit tight for a while just yet.

There is no way that Strachan is dropping Gary Caldwell. He has raved about the defender's displays and his attitude and he might move him into a holding position in the middle, but I don't think he will drop him.

Loovens is more of a left-sided defender which is Stephen McManus's position, but it's hard to see the captain being dropped.

It's an area of the park where Celtic definitely needed to strengthen - as demonstrated by the poor goal they lost at Dundee United - and I would like to see the Dutchman get the chance sooner rather than later. Balde truth is shocking

I THINK the deal to pay off Thomas Gravesen is in everyone's best interests, but what a disaster the Danish midfielder has been in the SPL.

So much was expected of him when he first arrived and it is bizarre the way things have worked out.

There is no point in him being at the club because there is no chance of him playing.

Now next up is Bobo Balde.

A deal to pay off the defender should be the next priority because it is highly unlikely that he will feature again in the first-team under Gordon Strachan.

I have to say that as a former professional football, I think his conduct this summer has left a sour taste in the mouth.

He has had good offers to switch clubs and get his career back on track but has decided to stay put at a club where he knows he won't play.

From this position, it looks like he is a guy who just doesn't care whether he plays again or not. Penalty let-off

DUNDEE UNITED were denied a stonewall penalty at Tannadice on Sunday.

I heard a couple of people say that there were fouls on Stephen McManus and Mark Wilson leading up to the incident, but I didn't see that.

If it had been the other way round Celtic would have wanted the spot-kick.

In any case, Celts had enough chances to win.