It took Jermain Defoe’s mum just 90 minutes of Old Firm action to work out why her son had fallen in love with life in Glasgow.
But the former Rangers star admits it will take far longer to get over his sudden departure from a club he had taken to his heart.
It’s just over a year since Defoe called time on his three-year Gers stint, slipping out the door with barely a chance to say goodbye after a failed experiment combining playing and coaching left the veteran poacher questioning his hunger for goals and action.
A brief return to former club Sunderland followed but even in those familiar surroundings, the 40-year-old admits there was no replicating the buzz that pulling on a blue jersey could offer - a buzz that even his mum Sandra could appreciate. “My mum has come to almost every game I’ve played in and she’s been everywhere, at every club,” said Defoe. “I remember we played here in my first Old Firm and she said to me, ‘You know what, I now know why you love it here'.