Eight goals and already Mark Hateley? Celtic fans know this Daily Record script

Eight goals this season, a former teammate with memories of Mark Hateley, and the Daily Record has its latest Ibrox feel-good story.

Reading Scott Nisbet’s comparison between Ryan Naderi and Hateley, I found myself asking a familiar question: how much evidence does it take before the nostalgia department gets involved?

Apparently, not very much.

Nisbet remembers Hateley struggling before winning over the support. Naderi struggled too, and now he is scoring. Around that limited parallel, the Record builds a lengthy tale of redemption, famous partnerships and silverware.

The scrapbook is doing some heavy lifting.

Hateley brought a career, not a promise

Let us start with the football record.

Naderi scored three goals in ten appearances for the Ibrox club last season, including just one league goal. After the Aberdeen semi-final, his current-season tally stood at eight in sixteen appearances across all competitions.

The numbers show improvement. They do not supply Mark Hateley’s pedigree.

Hateley joined the old Ibrox club in 1990, having played for AC Milan and Monaco. He had already won the French league and appeared for England at the World Cup. His eventual international record was 32 caps and nine goals.

Naderi arrived from Hansa Rostock in Germany’s third division, after previously playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach’s reserves.

Nobody can reasonably pretend those starting points are remotely alike.

Yet the feature borrows the older player’s achievements to give the present-day story a glow it has barely begun to earn.

Two players encountering early criticism is a conversation starter. It is hardly a scouting report.

What does the Naderi comparison actually prove?

Nisbet says: “And I see that with Naderi too.”

The Record acknowledges that the striker has “a long way to go”, so it does not explicitly declare him Hateley’s equal.

However, look at what surrounds that qualification.

Eleven medals. An iconic striker. A famous title-winning double. Then a current player presented as travelling along a reassuringly familiar road.

The emotional destination could hardly be clearer.

Where is the detailed comparison of their movement, finishing or performances against stronger opposition? What evidence suggests this run will develop into sustained excellence?

Those questions deserve more than dressing-room memories.

Even the announcement of Naderi’s signing described him as having “a lot of potential”. That phrase leaves a career to build. This feature reaches for a ready-made legend.

Celtic fans recognise the revival script

My frustration concerns the way football stories acquire their mood before the analysis begins.

For the Ibrox club, this feature offers patience, reassurance and a heroic precedent. Every early difficulty becomes another promising chapter.

Meanwhile, Celtic supporters are accustomed to searching questions about our manager, recruitment and direction. Many of those questions are justified. We asked them ourselves when examining Sutton’s verdict after Falkirk and Celtic’s defensive problems.

That same appetite for examination should follow an Ibrox revival story.

Assess the opposition. Examine the chances. Explain the tactical changes. Then ask whether the evidence supports the excitement.

Instead, we get a trip back to the early nineties and a borrowed reputation.

I have followed Celtic long enough to recognise the appeal of another grand Ibrox comeback narrative. This one leaves me cold.

Eight goals can improve a season.

They cannot fast-forward a player through Mark Hateley’s career.

Key takeaways

• Naderi’s scoring improvement does not establish Hateley-level pedigree.
• The Record’s feature relies heavily on nostalgia and reassurance.
• Revival stories deserve the same scrutiny as crisis stories.