Scottish League does Celtic no favours

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAY-OFF, FIRST LEG:ARSENE WENGER can be highly amusing and even the unintended humour of his remark last week was witheringly ironic. With tonight's Champions League qualifier against Celtic in mind the Arsenal manager argued that the Old Firm had the potential to do well in the Premier League. "They are the dominating force in Scotland," he said, "and can take all the best players in Scotland."

Questions popped into the mind. Why, for example, are Arsenal themselves not ransacking this treasure trove? Did Celtic and Rangers put the frighteners on English scouts who had the temerity to catch a plane to Glasgow?

The truth is that there is little natural talent to lure the prospectors for the time being.

For all his monitoring of world football, it must be that Wenger missed Scotland’s 4-0 defeat to Norway last week. Perhaps no one told him about Aberdeen’s 8-1 aggregate mangling by Sigma Olomouc in the Europa League qualifiers.

The country has run out of emerging prospects. Celtic have had difficulty in developing footballers and have now started to buy teenagers of potential. Josh Thompson, a centre-half, has been acquired from Stockport County.

The degree of imagination required by the Old Firm becomes ever greater. Each can be proud to have had an appearance in a Uefa Cup final during this decade. Porto denied Celtic the trophy in 2003 and there was a deeper disappointment when it became apparent over the following year or two that there was no prospect of a move into England’s Premier League.

In the effort to maintain status, Celtic have generally run their affairs well. Martin O’Neill and then Gordon Strachan secured six out of a possible nine League titles. Strachan also led the club into new territory by twice claiming a place in the knockout phase of the Champions League. In addition, he and his scouts identified signings such as Artur Boruc and Shunsuke Nakamura, who opened up new territories for Celtic’s marketing while enhancing the squad.

The club breaks even and in these recessionary days the aversion to debt makes sense. Prudence, however, is not good for box office. Furthermore, the shrivelling of Scottish football leaves the Old Firm in a blighted landscape. Money is tight for many people and it is no surprise that Celtic are finding it tricky to sell their habitual 50,000 season tickets this year when many of the matches are sure to be tiresome.

Behind the economics lies an unhappy realisation of the intrinsic limitations. If it is all but impossible to think of Portuguese or Dutch clubs lifting the Champions League in future then the odds against the representatives from a far smaller country such as Scotland are crushing. Against that backdrop, Celtic had a tough decision to make this summer after Strachan chose to give up the manager’s job.

Coming last in the Premier League is not ordinarily a wise career move, but Tony Mowbray was invited to leave West Brom and take charge of a club he had played for in the early 1990s. There is a strong bond between the fans and the former centre-half. Mowbray’s commitment to bright football also charmed them, but he knows very well that applause for idealism alone soon fades. He has to win.

His first competitive match was a Champions League qualifier against Dynamo Moscow. The visitors played like a settled side in the middle of their domestic season. Mowbray’s players were rusty, wasted chances and lost 1-0. The squad reacted, however, by making history as they became the first Celtic side to win a European tie after being defeated in the home leg.

It was of more immediate value that Mowbray’s team had a fluency that daunted Dynamo in a 2-0 victory. The manager made it seem, too, that wonders can be accomplished on a tight budget. Landry N’Guemo is on loan from Nancy, with Celtic holding an option to buy him for a modest €2.5 million, but the holding midfielder with an unusual desire to play the forward pass looked as if he belongs in higher price bracket.

Wheeling and dealing will be the order of the day. Mowbray has to raise funds to bring in players he wants. An era of change intrigues fans, but it will be hard to fulfil their dreams, especially when the opponents are Arsenal.