Stefan Johansen duly signed on the dotted line yesterday, accepted the number 25 shirt, and started to say all the right things;

“It’s a fantastic club, a big club, the best in Scotland. They play in Europe almost every year, the fans are probably the best in the world. So of course it’s a big step for me.

“When a club like Celtic comes for you then you don’t have the possibility to say no.

“The media was reporting a lot of interest in me but when I heard Celtic were going to make a move I told my agent ‘Go for it’.

“Of course when you come to a club like Celtic it’s a big pressure on you.

“But I’m the kind of person who can deal with that.

“The pressure is what I make it … it is not bigger than what I put on myself to succeed.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To come to a club like Celtic, it’s probably the kind of thing ?that a 100,000 kids dream about and here I am.

“This is a chance I need to take. I need to work even harder than I’ve done until now.

“This is a challenge I’m looking forward to very much. It is inspiring me. I know it’s a tough league, a very physical league, but Celtic play football the way I want to play it so I think it’s a perfect match.

“I was training with the guys today and they are good technical players. I’m looking forward to it.”

And so he continued, praising Neil Lennon, the fans and even the climate-well, to the extent he compared it to his home town, which sounds a bit like a week in Aberdeen in July.

“I come from all the way north in Norway. When I was 14 I needed a move because you can’t play football up there.

“I went to Bodo Glimt which is also in Norway but lower down.

“There’s a little bit of football in Vardo but it’s a place of just maybe 2000 people. So of course you can’t be a professional there.

“That’s nothing bad about the city or the people there. But that’s the reality. If you are going to move on in football,you need to get away.

“They do everything there, they go skiing, they drive snowmobiles, all the winter sports.

“There was one football pitch and one indoor hall with just a floor, not an artificial surface but a hard floor.

“I was always the kid playing football, me and two or three other friends – but they’re not in the game anymore.

“Of course when it was winter there was a lot of snow on the outdoor pitch and we went to the indoor hall.

“But if there was any green on the pitch we were there.

“My mother and brother came with me when I moved at 14. It is quite a big decision but for me it was a really easy choice. I wanted to do it very badly. Of course it means leaving behind friends from your childhood, everyone you’ve known from one to 14 years, and it was difficult to leave them at that age.

“But I had something to aim for and I got a professional contract when I was 16 with Bodo Glimt. I spent six years there but in the end I needed a move and Stromgodset were the best option.”

And then my thoughts about this guy changed.

At first , and lets be honest, there was a distinct feeling of  ho hum here comes another one about Johanssen, but reading about his determination to succeed means, allied with his passing ability, means we could well have found not only a bit of creativity, but also the drive and determination that turns defeats into draws and draws into wins.

The papers have seen it as a sign that Welshman, Joe Ledley, also a left sided midfielder, is on his way out, but the Evening Times has this headline;

Johansen: I want to click with Ledley at Celtic… not nick his place

Whereas the Norwegian said;

“Joe is a good player, and everyone wants to keep good players at their club.

“But I am here to make my way into the team. I don’t want to sit with the crowd or sit on the bench.

“Everybody wants to play in the first XI, and that’s my goal, to come in and try to do that.”

Which isn’t really the same thing.

He sounds like a determined sort of fellow, who could go on to make a name for himself. In fact, i’m looking forward to seeing him play.

All of this means that any loan move for Tomas Rogic might now become a permanent one, with Melbourne Victory in the hunt. Though if Johanssen delivers what he promises to bring, its Scott Brown who should be looking over his shoulder, and this time he won’t be able to use his elbow.

On top of that, theres excellent news from the Dutch revelation Virgil van Dijk, when asked  about possible moves to Arsenal or Manchester City;

” “It’s fantastic that such top teams are being linked to you,” he told Dutch magazine Voetbal International.

“I haven’t spoken with anyone yet, but it’s always a good sign, but I am enjoying it here at Celtic. The first six months were fantastic.”

The defender has refused to completely rule out a winter move though, and added: “It’s a cliche, but in football everything is possible.

“What I know is that I am in a good place here at Celtic and that feels excellent.” ”

And theres more…

Marcus Fraser, the defender who suffered a cruciate injury shortly after making a splendid debut for Celtic against Rennes alongside Danny Majstorovic, is back. He featured against Galatasaray and told the official website he’s ready to come back;

“It was around 60 minutes that I had on the pitch, which was ideal after my long spell out but I really enjoyed every minute of it. I did okay, so hopefully I can kick on now and get a few more games under my belt.

“I was always going to expect it after a long time out that I was going to have to start at least one game, whether it came then or next week or in the future, so in many ways it was good to get it out of the way.

“I suppose it was a bit like my debut against Rennes. Someone said that to me the other day actually and I suppose it was similar because I didn’t get any time to get uptight about it or prepare for it so you just have to go out on to the park and play, so maybe that’s the best thing to do.

“I remember we got to half time then five minutes later I was told that I’d be coming on and that was it. I just had to play 45 minutes but it was a great experience.

“In the next week weeks, next couple of months I’m hoping to play as many games as I can. Whether it’s with the 20s or other games, I just want to keep playing and ticking over and hopefully after that I can see where I’ll go from there.”

I’m a bit old fashioned, but it gives me a buzz when one of our own makes it. When a player hits the heights, the first question someone asks is

“where did you get him from ? “,

and the best answer of all is

” he’s one of our own. ”

Elsewhere new club Rangers have had a wee bit of a shuffle in share ownership. Its difficult to see who is screwing who over there these days, but as far as I can work out, another one of the original spiv team has cashed up and walked away.

But these shares are sort of going round in circles.

Richard Hughes has sold up, and Damille Investments are the proud holders of a couple of million shares. Damille moved in at 25p when it became apparent that even at that low price Dave King isn’t interested.

Damille are linked with Nimrod Capital, who have links with Close Brothers, who have ties with Charles Green, who has been known to do business with Craig Whyte.

Who has been known to do business with Old Rangers, and is suspected of being the real owner of New Rangers.

But crucially, Ally McCoist hasn’t backed the new men yet….

Outside my window this morning, there were four guys in Second Rangers tops playing football with a wee dog. I was going to put a stop to it, but the dog took a 1-0 lead.

In fact we hear that back in Scotland, the Scottish Arts Council are going to try to encourage more followers of the new club into museums and art galleries by simply switching the alarm system off.

I’d rather be a doctor than a dick was the tune from the stands when Dr Jo Venglos came up against Dick Advocaat in the nineties.

If only he had bought John Spencer instead of that waster Moravcik.

This picture is taken before a testimonial. Who for ?