And his team is improving at the right time. Bang in the middle of it is Maeda.
He’s not repeated his imperious goalscoring of last season, or looked all that happy at various times over the last 10 months having had a move to Germany cancelled amid the slapstick antics of what passes for Celtic’s recruitment department.
In April, though, he ended a run of 17 games without a goal – last season he never went more than six without scoring. Most lately, there’s been a sense of a gathering force. The hustling and harrying, the scarcely human work-rate, the big-time mentality – it was all key to the win over Rangers.
And the goals. When Celtic needed him most, Maeda was there for them. Two in a 3-1 win over Falkirk, one in a 2-1 win over Hibs and now the critical two in the 3-1 win over Rangers that puts them in Hearts’ slipstream.
At the break, the derby was in the balance at 1-1. It was tempestuous stuff. Frantic and enthralling. Chances at both ends. What happened next was no surprise. It was the most predictable thing.
Celtic have not been a good team this season, but they’ve shown a lust for battle, an ability to keep playing and winning even when their performances have never risen above the mundane.
It was a racing certainty that Celtic would remain in the fight. Rangers? It was almost as certain that they would go down and, pretty much, stay down.
Maeda landed the blows. Eight minutes into the new half and Kieran Tierney ran off James Tavernier, whose only answer to his counterpart’s run was to stick his arm in the air and hope for offside. That’s your Rangers captain.
