Joe Miller when he was at Aberdeen Lads Club - played against them on ash in Glasgow, pointed out to us defenders before kick-off to keep an eye on Miller as Celtic were signing him.
Bam, bam, bam! Joe scored a hat-trick and we lost 4-0. What struck me was his positional ability that day - kept popping up out of nowhere. We did fulfil our instructions to keep an eye on him, however- that was all we could do; never got close enough to kick him.
One that always really saddens me was young Stevie Murray - played against him a number of times as a teen in early Eighties - kid was different class. And I mean DIFFERENT class- probably the best Scottish player of his generation - Maestro level - good enough for Brian Clough to stick on Forest's bench at 17 for a European Cup game, good enough to be labelled 'the new Dalglish' when he came up the road to Celtic.
Everything was laid out for that bhoy - legendary future ahead of him until that fucking animal Dolan of Motherwell actually physically crippled him in a reserve match at Celtic Park when he was about 19 or 20 - tore his Achilles tendon right off his heel; destroyed a career in a flash.
It was a deliberate and savage assault on a player beyond his level, nothing more than bitter payback for being toyed with all game. Sheer envy manifest as brutality.
Still makes me sick these decades gone when I remember how breathtaking Murray's ability was - you knew you were up against a being from a different universe, football wise. What he could've become...
In the early nineties I witnessed a situation when both of them were in the same nightclub vip lounge - Dolan with Motherwell players on their Scottish Cup run, and Stevie Murray - still carrying that limp - with a cadre of drinking pals. Tension was palpable to anyone who knew the history.
Ultimately, when karma caught up with Dolan and his untimely death was reported I can't say I was laden with any sympathy; just heavy regret for a golden career ruined at the studs of a mediocre clugger.
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