Michael O’Halloran’s Ibrox nightmare is over, but the most bitter fans in world football are not for letting him go quietly.
As Joe McHugh stated yesterday, they have bombarded his new club, Melbourne City FC, with so much bile that fans there are wondering what in God’s name has gone on. They wonder what sort of person they are getting.
There’s a simple answer to that; a better one than the assortment of trash who are bad mouthing him.
And a half decent football player to boot.
The messages that Joe put on his page were just a sampler of what was said about the player, and to him. They were, in other words, the nice ones. The ones Joe thought appropriate for a site like VideoCelts. There was, of course, far worse.
Melbourne City fans must be baffled by all this.
Players sign for clubs all the time, and their fans often aren’t sad to see the back of them. Players have left Celtic in this window and our supporters didn’t bombard their new clubs with negative messages. Outside a move between rivals it is simply not how things are done.
This is another first for Sevco.
But of course the club and its fans treated him abysmally. I wrote an article after the issue was raised of him attending the cup final in the Celtic end; quite what the internet gutter rats think this guy owed them and their club I don’t know.
They behaved disgracefully where he was concerned and underneath it all was bubbling sectarianism and bigotry. They hated him because he was Irish. Because he was Catholic. Because he had been at Celtic and his dad was still a coach there. They hate anyone who isn’t them, but Irish Catholic’s most of all. Their websites and forums are cesspits.
If Melbourne City fans want to know what sort of footballer they are getting they should ask fans at St Johnstone and at Motherwell. He was a great player for the Perth club and the Lanarkshire club wanted to sign him in this window.
That’s not for nothing.
On his day he is a fantastic player and he will be a huge success in Australia.
Most people in Scotland wish him well, especially after the darkness of his time in a Sevco shirt. Those who don’t are so blinded by their own hate that they can’t even see straight. He is well shot of that place. His career and his life will only get better from here.