It could have been so, so different. When John Hartson 'failed a medical' at Ibrox in August 2000, Celtic got lucky. 12 months later, Martin O'Neill 'gambled' £6M on a set of knees that supposedly wouldn't look out of place on a geriatric elephant. Looking back on his time at Celtic Park, I think it's fair to say we got our moneys worth.
According to Soccerbase, John Hartson scored 109 goals in 201 appearances for Celtic. But Big Bad John was about more than goals. Often simply regarded as a huge battering ram of a player he also had a surprising deftness about his play, as witnessed by some truly great goals scored while playing in the Hoops. He was also a team player, forming impressive understandings with the Suttons and Larssons of this world - never afraid of putting his head where it might get hurt.
His form may have gone downhill over the course of his final full season in the East End of Glasgow, but that shouldn't detract from the overall contribution to the cause.
There's no doubt that we've been a poorer team without John Hartson. Here's a wee reminder why.
Click on the link below this video to see it in a larger format, or to download the file.
Hartson from celtic clips on Vimeo.
