Fast forward a few years however and after accepting the pundit pound to join super scoreboard and more recently the Evening Times as their "Fearless pundit" - more of this later, and the presenter has now plumbed the depths to join Erroneous of Keevins, BFDJ et al on the good ship Bullshit.
Quite how any person who elects to change his name slightly to one that sounds just a little less Catholic just to progress in his career can be described as a "Fearless Pundit" is beyond me.
However, in today's edition of the Evening Times, a paper which is fast losing its reputation as the only red top worth reading (best of a very bad lot), our Fearless pundit has proclaimed categorically and without doubt that Celtic will get beaten in Hamburg tonight. Here are a few quotes that I have cherry-picked from this astounding piece of writing.
"THERE'S a big difference between scoring three against Kilmarnock without reply and trying to get the all-important goals to revive your European campaign against a team from the Bundesliga."
"Hamburg will kill off Celtic's Europa League hopes in Germany tonight"
"Any Celtic fan travelling to Germany with high hopes of a morale-boosting victory is living in cloud cuckoo land"
So what you are saying oh Fearless one is that there is absolutely no point in Celtic even turning up tonight? Despite the fact that the recurring theme on your radio programme in recent weeks has been about how to improve the Scottish game and get attendances up!
I can remember a certain Hugh Keevins coming out with a similar comment on the eve of Celtic's home tie with Manchester United in the first season that the two teams were matched up, and we all know the result of that one don't we?
Now I have to say that I am a realist, and that I fully accept that Hamburg have the better squad of footballers, (I think TM should be taking a look at their RCB Demel) however where is the hope and expectation? Where is the support for a Scottish Club playing in Europe? Yes history points to the fact that we have never won in German soil, however the Bundesliga is a league on the decline also and anything can happen in football.
On a brighter note, it would appear that Rangers result in Romania last night was indeed a blessing in disguise. With the rumours that the Ibrox outfit (what is an Ibrox outfit one wonders? Dignified Blazer and Brown Brogues?) are losing a whopping £8K a day they could ill afford to pay out a win bonus could they?
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt