The next Celtic hero- Morten Rasmussen?

Could there be a hero in Morten Rasmussen?

Badge kissers are ten-a-penny in the modern game but the way that the Danish striker raced to engage with the supporters after scoring at Hamilton suggested that there could be a new hero about the place.

Other than a brief glimpse of Craig Bellamy there hasn't really been a striker for the support to identify with since you know who left for Barcelona.

Scoring with his first touch and without having started a match gets the birthday boy Dane, 25 today, off to a flier and keeps the flack and criticism at bay for now.

After watching his new striker score yesterday Tony Mowbray said: “Part of the reason that we signed him- his record is pretty decent- is that he makes a connection with the supporters and team-mates.

“He does enjoy scoring goals, football fans like to see how much it means to the players. You could see that today with his goal.”

The goalscorer added: “It was nice to score for myself and important for the team.

“Three points was important for us. Every time we play we have to win, we got the points today and need to do the same on Tuesday.

“As a striker it's important to score early at a new club, The manager told me to go in and fight for the ball in the box, that's where I'm strongest and what I'm trying to do.

“I'm not the player who will make the most beautiful goals but I'll fight for the team in the box and hopefully add some goals.”

Rasmussen's booking however bemused Mowbray who added: “When is a player allowed to enjoy celebrating?

“I could understand it if it had been an Old Firm game with a player going to celebrate with his supporters but I genuinely couldn't see a problem today with the boy celebrating with our supporters- making a connection with the fans.

“I like common sense. The referee is probably going by the letter of the law, if you leave the playing surface and go to the supporters it's meant to be an automatic booking.

“I've watched him score many many goals in Denmark and he's on the fence, he's in the netting, he's grabbing hold of the pretty girls in the crowd!

“He celebrates with his supporters. He'll learn quickly, it was a reflection of how much it meant for him to score a goal.

“He gets excited and wants to score again and again, he enjoys scoring goals.”

At the back Jos Hooiveld had a quiet uninteresting and unexciting debut- exactly what you want from defenders.

Playing alongside Josh Thompson the Dutchman didn't have any chance to impress and avoided the type of bombscare moments that have dogged the defence lately.

After the match he looked a picture of happiness as he posed with supporters for pictures.

Everything about Hooiveld screams character at you but life at Celtic is much more complex than 1-0 wins over Hamilton Accies.

The real characters respond and thrive to the cut-throat death or glory surroundings of the club.

Mowbray has now put his mark on the club, it looks like there will be other new faces before the close of play at midnight tomorrow.

The attitude shown yesterday is every bit as important as skill and ability, after facing Kilmarnock, Dunfermline and Hearts over the next ten days we'll be in a position to start judging the new look team.

Hooiveld captaincy hint

Tony Mowbray has dropped a strong hint that Jos Hooiveld could be his captain.

The Dutch defender is expected to make his debut on Wednesday against Hibs but has already made a big impact off the park.

Since arriving at Celtic last summer Mowbray has shared the captaincy between Gary Caldwell and Stephen McManus with Darren O'Dea leading Celtic in the Scottish Cup win against Morton.

Mowbray is from the old school that sees the captain's job as more than just wearing an armband and leading the team out and clearly looks to the centre of defence for leaders.

The Celtic boss admitted: "We're looking for strong characters and for a new leader to come out of the dressing room.

"You listen to Jos Hooiveld, who's not a shy boy and who's already vocal both on the training ground and also in the dressing room.

"It would be unfair to say who I think can step up for us but I am pretty sure that some personalites will grow out of it.

"A captain will evolve, I think. That's how personalities come out of the dressing room. Darren O'Dea was our captain on Tuesday - he had a tough time at the end at Reading but his personality and character are very strong.

"Whether he's in the team or not, he's got raw attributes and his personality comes out."

Mowbray has spent the January transfer window overhauling his squad and is looking for fresh characters to emerge.

He added: "I see enough quality in the squad at the moment but we have lost Gary Caldwell and Barry Robson who were both big characters in the dressing room.

"When you lose big characters out of a dressing room other players can find that quality within themselves. When I arrived at West Brom I had a very experienced side which Bryan Robson had put together but that team basically disappeared and by the time I left there were only about two players left.

"Jonathan Greening, for instance, was a quiet little talented footballer among a lot of big personalities and he grew into a leader on the pitch and off it.

"He was our captain, basically because of his talent to start with - but then he found his voice and knew the responsibilities he had. He became a natural leader."

Hooived played for Celtic's development side in the 2-1 win in midweek at Blackburn where he formed a new look defensive partnership with Thomas Rogne.

The Norwegian defender isn't expected to become a first team player this season but has already made a favourable impression on his new manager.

Mowbray said: "I've been very impressed with what I've seen in training. He played alongside Jos Hooiveld in a bounce game against a very strong Blackburn Rovers side this week - the strikers were Jason Roberts and El-Hadji Diouf so it was a good test for the centre-halves.

"They had a lot of international first-team players involved but our young side won the game, which was at their training ground, 2-1 and both centre-halves did really well.

"Thomas is only 19 years old but when I look at the physicality of him compared to some of the boys we have at our training ground, he's a man already.

"He isn't particularly for this weekend, next weekend or the weekend after. I think you buy Thomas Rogne and hopefully save yourself £5m two years down the line when the club needs a centre-half and you've already got him."