CELTIC have been involved in more than a few bizarre transfers over the years and Derek Riordan is another who fits snugly into the misfit category.
Gordon Strachan signed the Hibs striker in a cut-price £170,000 deal in May 2006 after a pre-contract deal had been brought forward from January 2007.
Riordan went from being a poster boy at Easter Road to bit-part player at Parkhead and, after eight goals in 32 appearances in two seasons, he headed back to Leith.
DEBUT BHOY…Derek Riordan in action in a 2-0 League Cup win over St Mirren on September 19 2006.
Before his move to Glasgow, it was reported that he had knocked back a switch to Cardiff City after a £500,000 fee had been agreed between Hibs and the Welsh club. In January 2005, Rangers were out of luck with a £400,000 offer.
The Leith bosses accepted bids from Lokomotiv Moscow and Kaiserslautern, but Riordan stated he was not interested in a move overseas.
After flitting in and out of the Celtic first team, Riordan decided to air his views in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper in April 2008 – and the end was in sight when his words hit the newsstands.
The three times-capped Scotland forward targeted boss Strachan for criticism and said: “I only get chucked on if we need a goal, so he must think I can get him a goal.
“But he obviously doesn’t want to do it unless he really has to because he doesn’t want me to prove him wrong. He knows I would score quite a lot if he played me as much as he has played the other strikers, but I don’t think he wants proved wrong.
“When I speak to him, he’s nice to me and says all the things players want to hear about me being part of the plans, but you know by his actions that he’s talking rubbish.”
SPOT ON…Derek Riordan makes no mistake in the penalty-kick shoot-out with Spartak Moscow at Parkhead in August 2007.
Strachan’s reactions were swift and predictable. The player was ordered to train with the reserve team. At the turn of the year, Burnley had a £400,000 bid for the controversial frontman rejected.
That was followed by five other clubs, including Hibs, making loan offers to take him off Celtic’s hands, but the Hoops hierarchy knocked them all back before insisting Riordan would leave only on a permanent deal.
One of the forward’s rare highlights in Glasgow came on the memorable evening of August 29 2007 when he scored in the penalty-kick shoot-out against Spartak Moscow in the Champions League third round play-off.
The tie was level at 2-2 on aggregate and, after 30 minutes of extra-time at Parkhead, the sides were still deadlocked.
Riordan sunk his spot-kick as did Gary Caldwell, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Maciej Zurawski while Artur Boruc made two brilliant saves. The Hoops won 4-3 – the first time they had been successful in a penalty-kick showdown in European competition.
The Hoops got through their group before losing to an extra-time goal from Brazilian superstar Kaka that gave AC Milan a 1-0 aggregate win in the San Siro in the next phase of Europe’s elite competition.
On the final day of the 2008 summer transfer window, the forward returned to Hibs for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £250,000. He completed his comeback campaign as the club’s top scorer with 12 goals.
PICK IT OUT…Derek Riordan pounces to beat Motherwell keeper Graeme Smith in Celtic’s 1-1 draw at Fir Park on December 30 2006.
He left the club as a free agent in 2011 and signed for Chinese Super League club Shaanxi Baorong Chanba. His initial two-year contract was mutually terminated after just four months.
Riordan returned to Scotland with St Johnstone on a short term deal in March 2012 before having a three-month stint at Bristol Rovers.
He continued on his travels with brief spells at Alloa, Brechin City, East Fife, York City and Edinburgh City before signing for Edinburgh amateur club St Bernard’s in April 2018.
In January 2020, at the age of 37, Riordan took over a Easter Road pub The Four in Hand and renamed it R10rdan’s Sports Bar. His favoured shirt number at Hibs was 10.
As far as a career in football was concerned, the mercurial individual’s number was up.
* TOMORROW: Don’t miss the adventures of another former Celt in CQN’s EXCLUSIVE series.
