MATT O’Riley has made a near flawless start to his Celtic career. Near. I’ll let you ponder over the caveat a little longer.

It’s rather hard to believe that the 21-year-old has only been at the club a little over two months. His self-proclaimed “crazy” debut at Tynecastle will live long in the memory of starring maiden appearances.

The grace with which he glided over the surface, the whip on his corner kicks and the pinpoint precision of his defence-splitting passes have rarely lessened since that Wednesday night under the floodlights.

An assist, a man-of-the-match performance and 86 minutes under his belt within the first week of signing for the club. Not bad for a chap who was painted to be ‘Plan B’.

Ever wondered how the supposed ‘Plan A’ is getting on as one of those people who prefer red to green?

It took Riley McGree – the Australian, former Charlotte FC, known-to-Ange-Postecoglou midfielder – nearly a month just to make it to the Middlesbrough bench after he snubbed Celtic for the English Championship outfit.

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Following his endurance of Boro’s 2-2 draw with Queens Park Rangers from the sidelines, McGree made two substitute appearances before his first start against West Brom on February 22 – amassing a total of 121 minutes in England’s second tier. Since then, he’s been plagued with injuries and failed to make a matchday squad in the last five league outings.

O’Riley had donned a Hoops shirt for 459 minutes in Celtic’s pursuit of the league championship by the time McGree eventually made the starting line-up for Chris Wilder’s side.

And yet, O’Riley does such more than simply fill the shirt. Despite only netting once – in the 3-2 victory over Aberdeen – O’Riley’s goal threat and presence in and around the box epitomises a Postecoglou player.

If you’ll allow me to indulge for a moment, my personal highlight so far on O’Riley’s blossoming Celtic showreel comes from the 4-0 thrashing of Motherwell at Fir Park.

Comfortably one of the most ‘complete’ performances in Postecoglou’s reign, the victory was sealed by an unorthodox Daizen Maeda goal – however the assist from the substitute was exquisite. The weight of pass, allowing the rapid Japanese forward to latch on, was sublime.

And of course, this encounter came only four days after Celtic destroyed Rangers in the first Glasgow Derby of 2022 – O’Riley playing another integral role in that. Fellow midfielder Reo Hatate may have – rightfully – stole the limelight given his two goals but the former MK Dons man was influential again. It was from his corner that the ball was cleared into the path of Hatate, allowing the ‘utility player’ to tee up a thunderous strike.

There has been a lot of tossing and turning within the midfield since then. Not a bad thing either, as not so long ago Postecoglou was scraping the barrel. He now has strength in depth in abundance.

However, with Tom Rogic nursing a slight knock and O’Riley’s confidence sky-high, there is belief the same midfield that ran the show at Parkhead could be unleashed at Ibrox on Sunday.

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On top of his splendid start to life in the green and white hoops, O’Riley received his maiden call-up to the Denmark under-21 side for the recent international break. To round things off, he appeared from the bench for his run-out for the Danes in their 1-1 European Championship qualifying match against Belgium.

The stars have aligned perfectly for the creative playmaker to have another shot at Rangers – and it’s nothing short of what he deserves. Few could fill the boots of ‘big-game player’ Rogic so it’s a testament to O’Riley that he isn’t viewed as a downgrade. He is, in fact, broadly seen as an equally-impressive alternative.

Lining up for his second Glasgow Derby in two months, he’s living the life of (O’)Riley.

Riley McGree on the other hand, well, maybe he has better taste in music. That’s the caveat to O’Riley’s flawless beginning – who listens to AC/DC and Aerosmith these days?