BACK in the mid-sixties, there was a player at Celtic who sorely tested the patience of legendary manager Jock Stein.
The astute boss was all too aware of the gifts that had been lavished upon the flamboyant and entertaining individual, but there was an element of his play that had Big Jock regularly sucking out his fillings.
The colourful character, who became an immediate hit with the fans with his dazzling displays and bewildering footwork, could light up a grey afternoon with his illuminating skills.
Big Jock, though, regularly left him out of his line-up – and, please remember, there was no array of stand-by performers jostling for a place on the substitutes’ bench in those unenlightened times.
ON THE BALL…Jimmy Johnstone goes through a training routine under the watchful eye of Jock Stein as Celtic prepare for an away European encounter.
The player infuriated the Hoops gaffer to the extent a new exercise was introduced to training at Barrowfield – two-touch football. Simply put, the player could take only a couple of touches before passing the ball to a team-mate.
It was designed to keep the ball moving at pace with players having to utilise space with a wall pass invariably played into a vulnerable area in the opponents’ defence. No-one was given licence to dwell on the ball.
Jimmy Johnstone had to learn fast that football under the influence of Big Jock was a team game and there would be no place for spectacular solo sorties if there was no end product.
The manager was never impressed when the winger proved he could skin his rival left-back three or four times before deciding to part with the ball.
The penny eventually dropped with the diminutive wing wizard and he became a key component in Celtic’s success of that wonderful era.
I look at Sebastian Tounekti and, like you, I can appreciate those twinkle toes of the Tunisian who was the champions’ record signing of a fairly lacklustre summer transfer window after his deadline-day £5.2million arrival from Swedish outfit Hammarby IF.
TOUCHLINE TALK-IN…Martin O’Neill makes a point to winger Sebastian Tounekti during Celtic’s 3-1 Premier Sports League Cup semi-final victory at Hampden.
The 23-year-old flanker is easy on the eye, no argument about that, but I can’t help questioning his timing in the release of his final pass.
Like Wee Jinky decades before him, Tounekti can work the openings, but the killer pass has been missing on far too many occasions to keep a smile on the face on demanding observers, including Martin O’Neill.
It’s maybe unfair to expect the international forward to hit the ground running during a period of turmoil at Parkhead, not least the dramatic switch in the dug-out.
We watched Luis Palma produce some scintillating moments on the left wing, but Brendan Rodgers was clearly never entirely convinced about his finishing.
And that is why the Honduran is currently on loan in Poland with Lech Poznan.
Marco Tilio arrived with a growing reputations after his exploits in Australia, but he impressed Rodgers to the extent he was allotted 28 first-team minutes in two cameo appearances before being sold to Rapid Vienna in the summer.
AIR WE GO…Sebastian Tounekti evades a slide tackle from Kilmarnock’s David Watson during the Tunisian winger’s debut at Rugby Park in September.
Is Tounekti superior to Palma or Tilio? Will he add the x-factor that eluded the other two undoubtedly talented ball artists?
He has scored two goals – against Partick Thistle (4-0) and Falkirk (4-0) – in his 12 appearances and he is a certain starter against Kilmarnock in the east end of Glasgow this afternoon.
The dour Ayrshire outfit will come with a plan and will attempt to smother their opponents. They are not in town to add entertainment value to today’s proceedings.
It almost worked at Rugby Park in September where the intervention of stoppage-time penalty-kick winner from Kelechi Iheanacho guaranteed three much-needed points.
Tounekti had made his debut on that occasion, but had been removed from the action and replaced by Yang Hyun-jun shortly before the late drama.
The expensive recruit has yet to start and finish 90 minutes in O’Neill’s three games in charge.
Today would be the ideal time for Tounekti to deliver and dispel early doubts about his contribution to the cause.
ALEX GORDON
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