I remember him scoring a brilliant goal against West Ham. Adrian Chiles seemed to have a stiffy for Samaras every week on MOTD2.
From what I see of him years ago he couldn't be arsed. That pretty much summed up everything I see of City back then bar Joey Barton who seemed to be around like a rabid dog.
He's never been a workhorse like a Dickov or Tevez it's never been his style really.
He may be handy for a partner striker but if you want a goal scoring player he will never ever be that man. Averaging less than 6 goals a season in the league for ten years isn't all that good reading.
Perhaps he has improved his overall game, like Sutton, Hartson etc did. Celtic breezing past every opponent must give a lot of confidence which I'm sure helps for the big occasion.
The only two players in the last 15-20 years coming out of Celtic who I consider big players are Viduka and Larrson.