They say it’s never quite the same the second time around.

When it comes to a) love interests and b) footballers returning to football clubs, my own personal experience would suggest that yep, there’s a large portion of truth in that contention.

C’mon, admit it, you’ve been there too. That relationship you could never quite let go, returning after a long break to have a second crack at it ... didn’t work out quite so well did it?

That player, returning to a football club like a long lost soul brother ... did he manage to scale the heights second time around?

Frank McAvennie, Charlie Nicholas, Andy Walker, Shaun Maloney ... (to name just a few)?

All of the excitement generated the first time is seldom replicated the second time around. With relationships – admittedly, often rather more complex beasts – the rush you feel when first getting to know someone can never be repeated, and more often than not you’ll find yourself settling for the comfort zone of familiarity over and above any other consideration.

Which brings us to Charlie Mulgrew, who returns to Celtic this summer after four years plying his trade elsewhere. The thing with Mulgrew though, is that due to him not having played a competitive match during his first spell with the club, the relationship was never fully consummated. He was more like the quick introductory snog down the back of a dark close before he high tailed it in the belief that he would be better off with someone else. (The bstard – they’re all the same!)

To be fair to Charlie Mulgrew though, his exit from Celtic back in 2006 – after coming through the age group ranks at the club with no little aplomb, followed by a short loan period at Dundee United – may well have been forced rather than sought. It’s clear he had an issue with (then) manager Gordon Strachan (or vice-versa), and he’d hovered around the fringes at the club long enough.

Despite having made a relatively strong impression during that year’s pre-season outings, when an offer to join ambitious Wolves came along, Mulgrew was offski, and few could fault him under the circumstances. From there he went on to play more times for Southend United than he did for his adopted club, and by the summer of 2008 the reality of the situation hit home, so home is exactly where Mulgrew headed – returning to Scotland to sign for Aberdeen.

Mulgrew became a regular straight away at Pittodrie – as a left-back or occasional winger – and his two years there resulted in 72 top team appearances, sufficient for him to move from the ranks of the “promising” into those of the “proven SPL-level player”. Oh, and quite apparently, sufficient for Celtic to consider him good enough for a return when the two-year deal with Aberdeen expired a month or so ago.

The two goals he scored against Celtic in September 2009 probably went some way towards forcing a reassessment of his abilities, and there’s no question that Mulgrew is one of the most accomplished left-footed set-piece specialists in Scotland and a *fairly* sound defender. Or is it perhaps a case of Celtic adjusting its own expectations as to what constitutes a decent left-back?

Whatever, he can hardly be worse than what we’ve seen in the interim, and of course there’s not much to suggest (yet!) that Mulgrew is going to be the regular incumbent in that role.

So Charlie Mulgrew now has another shot at it, signing a three-year contract as Neil Lennon’s first signing.

Welcome “home” Charlie. If we can put that initial awkward grope (down that dark close) well and truly behind us, I’m quite sure we can all look forward to a deep and meaningful liason this time around. Your task is quite simple: become the exception to the rule.

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