I WAS a Rangers fan growing up as a boy and most of my family are bluenoses too. But I would have jumped at the opportunity to sign for Celtic and it nearly happened on two separate occasions. When Henrik Larsson broke his leg there was a chance of me going there. They phoned my agent and got speaking but then they decided to sign Ian Wright instead. Then Michael Mols did his cruciate ligament and I ended up going to Rangers instead.

A few years before that Tommy Burns tried to sign me just before I went to Aberdeen. He phoned me up and asked if I could stall my transfer to let him get a few out the door and then bring me in. By that point I had committed to Aberdeen, and Celtic wasn’t a definite so I couldn’t take that chance. But I would have gone in an instance. I wouldn’t have needed to think twice. I phoned my dad about it and he told me just to do what I thought was right. And nothing else mattered.

Most players have teams they prefer and maybe grew up supporting, but football is ultimately a career and you want to do as well in it as you can. It is why those who think Scott Allan won’t fancy playing for Celtic have got it all wrong. If you’re a good pro and strong-minded – like Scott is – then if a huge club like Celtic come in for you then you jump at it if the circumstances are right.

Scott has taken a personal stance before and dug his heels in to get the moves he wanted so it will be interesting to see his take on this one. But the fact that he’s spoken a lot about being a Rangers fan shouldn’t really matter. As a boy growing up, most players just want to get to the highest possible level in football and Scott will be the same. And Celtic would represent another step up for him again. You don’t knock back a move to Celtic just because you are a Rangers fan, or vice versa. You act professionally and do what is right for your career.

How much he will play at Celtic, though, will be interesting to see. Looking at their squad they have plenty of midfielders already so is Scott absolutely vital for them? You would have to say he isn’t. Would he add to their squad? Of course, he’s got quality the boy. But is he a necessity to make sure they qualify for the Champions League? I don’t think he is. So there is a part of the deal that is Celtic showing just who the daddy is now. Rangers can’t live with Celtic in terms of finances so if they were ever to compete for the same player there would only be one winner. Celtic are showing who are the kings in Scottish football these days. Rangers have to get back to the top division, get stabilised, get some finance behind them and that’s all a few years away. So they can forget about trying to compete with Celtic for players for some time.

Back in the day it was Rangers who could turn the screw on Celtic as we saw famously with the Mo Johnston case. That was David Murray flexing his muscles. But now it’s Celtic who are the big fish and signing Scott Allan just proves that further. The momentum is all with them now.

The irony, of course, is that weakening Hibs actually helps Rangers in their bid to win the Championship but I’m guessing that’s not much consolation to the Rangers fans right now. Seeing a player they really wanted move to Celtic will hurt a lot and is just a wee reminder of where the two clubs are just now in the grand scheme of things. Rangers have a while to go before they are in a position to catch up.

JOHN COLLINS ended up with a bit of egg on his face following his comments last weekend about Celtic not being tested enough domestically after they dropped points at Kilmarnock in midweek. But John didn’t say anything we didn’t already know. You didn’t need to be Einstein to work out that Celtic are the biggest team in the country. It was maybe a bit disrespectful what he said and I think week to week Celtic will always get a challenge. But, over the long term, what he said was the truth. There are leagues all over the world where the biggest teams play smaller teams and you don’t hear Bayern Munich or Barcelona complaining about that. John’s comments just seemed a bit naive to me. But I'm just a number two so what do I know.