Daniel Majstorovic looks the part as hard man in defence, but also fails to convince

THERE was a what's-not-to-like reaction from Celtic supporters to the news their club had signed centre-back Daniel Majstorovic.

According to all reports, the 33-year-old, 6ft 4in, shaven- headed Swedish international not only has the nightclub bouncer look but also the same sort of not-to-be-messed with bruiser approach. To a support who have despaired at a procession of central defenders playing like hat-check girls in Celtic colours these past three years, the acquisition from AEK Athens was an answer to their prayers, with God even going to the trouble of providing exactly the identikit asked for in their plenary indulgences.

Fast-tracked into last night's line-up for the first leg of Celtic's Europa League play-off against Utrecht partly as a result of Jos Hooiveld missing out through suspension, Majstorovic would be the man that Celtic followers were convinced would re-acquaint them with the sort of brute-force backline action they had not witnessed since battering ram Bobo Balde was in his pomp six years ago.

The Scandinavian, who has won titles with Basel and Malmo, would be the 'albino Bobo', in the eyes of one website poster. That was the theory. And when, within two seconds of the kick-off, Majstorovic was shooing his fellow defenders upfield and barking out instructions with an authority and assurance belying his debutant status, it looked like Neil Lennon might just have the team leader he so desperately craves. Mind you, Majstorovic ought to be an excellent communicator. He can speak eight languages.

Thereafter in the first period, however, the 35-capped Swede didn't look like the break with the recent past expected of him. He wasn't rag-dolled by a centre-forward — as happened whenever Stephen McManus and Gary Caldwell confronted any player with genuine physicality. He didn't make any real howlers either — as McManus, Caldwell and, lest we forget, his partner last night Glen Loovens did with alarming regularity in the past two seasons. But he didn't convince either.

As a hanging high ball was delivered into the Celtic box, the expectation was Majstorovic would rise like a salmon to power it away. Instead he stood like a haddie.

Earlier, he had allowed Nama Asare to ghost in behind him and give the home crowd a fright with an off-target header as a result of not cutting out the sort of centre that has been deadly to Celtic through any number of defensive combinations — Steven Pressley, Josh Thompson and Darren O'Dea also having their moments — since Balde was banished from Celtic's first team. Then when he did make one of these clearing headers, he dinked the ball straight to Edouard Duplan.

Majstorovic, the so-called beast, certainly wasn't producing a performance of aesthetic value, which oozed from the midfield promptings of his fellow first-timer Beram Kayal.The Swede did settle down, though, the turning point when he bounded across his box to nick the ball away from the toe of Ricky van Wolfswinkel with an inch-perfect, and perfectly-timed, all-in sliding challenge.

The second half was a similar mix to the first: he looked the part, didn't always play the part, but stayed on the right side of acceptable with his display. Indeed, he may have saved the best to last, cynically upending Duplan as the attacker burst through the middle in stoppage time. It ensured Utrecht would not claim an away goal. In that sense, last night was job done for Majstorovic. In Europe especially, rarely have Celtic defenders been able to make that claim in recent years.