How can Globular Clusters pre-date their host galaxy?

Early in the history of the Universe, there were no galaxies and essentially all the normal matter was in the form of atomic hydrogen gas, smoothly distributed. Under these circumstances, relatively small amounts of gas (a few solar masses up to a million solar masses) tend to collapse under self-gravity prior to and faster than larger masses of gas (a billion solar masses---galaxy size). During this period, the globular clusters would have formed. The globular clusters would then be drawn to galaxy-sized accumulations of matter later, as the galaxies formed.

globular clusters are densely packed,roughly spherical groups of hundreds of thousands of older stars. Where as elliptical galaxy consists of old red giants at centre

They might be coherent tightly bound core remains of a galaxy

that has collided and merged with the 'parent'.

Thus they might be older than the average stellar age

for the parent.

Theres a new fly in the ointment:

http://www.unisci.com/stories/20022/0627021.htm