Scottish Premier League Update

Ali Hannah on the Three Powerhouses of Northern Football, late November 2006

Celtic | Hearts | Rangers

Celtic Roundup

When Celtic returned from Lisbon on the back of a pummeling from Benfica, many felt their Champions League dreams were like a sheet clinging to the clothesline in a high wind; barely hanging on and ready to blow away with the next strong gust.

But after beating Manchester United, Celtic's aspirations have been firmly pegged back on, as Gordon Strachan's side added another famous scalp to an impressive list of illustrious teams who have left Parkhead empty-handed.

Qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League has always proved to be a step too far for Celtic, despite coming close on a couple of occasions.

Yet the fragility of their entry into the latter stages is illustrated by the fact that, had Louis Saha's last minute penalty gone in, Celtic could have found themselves going to Copenhagen next month with a Uefa Cup spot still in jeopardy.

The line between success and failure has always been perilously thin in the Champions League, but it just happens that this time round, Celtic were on the right side of it, leaving Alex Ferguson to work out just why his United side had been left high and dry in Glasgow.

Bobo Balde, like Neil Lennon, is the only player remaining at Parkhead who has played a key role in the competition for Celtic, since the Hoops first graced the tournament in 2001.

Shaun Maloney and Stephen McManus were involved sporadically in earlier campaigns but were not first team regulars at the time.

The Guinea defender, recalled because of the injury to Gary Caldwell, was delighted with the win over United and, having been left with a bitter taste in his mouth on so many previous occasions, he was keen to milk the experience.” It is a great moment for us and also for the fans,” he said. “I’m glad to have been involved in it.

“We worked hard to get here at this moment and I am happy.

“I will wait until my career is over before I say that this is the biggest thing that has happened in it, but I am delighted to be in the next round of the Champions League, because we have worked so hard for this.

“When Shunsuke Nakamura got the ball to take the free-kick, we knew that he could do something special with it. Artur Boruc also made some good saves and it is good he was here, because he had a few good stops in the game.”

Guaranteeing a place in the last 16 - with one game still remaining - is a scenario that few would have pondered on the return flight home from Benfica, when Celtic’s weaknesses were so ruthlessly exposed.

For all that their flaws were laid bare in Lisbon, the strengths that Strachan's side were equally evident at Parkhead on Tuesday night.

In truth, United could and should have penalised Celtic for their first-half display. But instead of rolling over after the break, the Hoops came out after the interval having shorn the respect they had for their Premiership visitors and started to find their feet.

It was not a vintage performance, but the fact that Barcelona are the only team in the Champions League to have made off with three points from Parkhead, points to something about the mentality of Celtic when they’re on their own turf.

It is because of that reason that Strachan's side will not be overly fearful when the draw for the next round is made for the knockout phase, which takes place at the end of February and the beginning of March next year.

Yet, for all that Celtic have planted a foot in unfamiliar territory, Balde already has his sights set on staying there.
The defender revealed he believes the Parkhead side should always be earning themselves an invitation to dine at the top table of Europe’s elite. “I think that Celtic have done well but by the size of the club, the size of the support who are behind the club, the amount of money put into the club and the amount of money made by the club, you would say that getting through to the next stage of the Champions League should be normal,” he added.

“A club of this size should think of itself as being able to compete at that level.

“The fans and the club had to wait such a long time after the successful period of the 1960s and 70s to do well in Europe and it was a long, long time.

“But when I think of the size and stature of this club, we should aspire not just to the Champions League every year, but also to the next level every year.

“I trust the club and I trust the manager and I think the long-term goal is to aim to get to the next level every season.

Hearts: Vladamir Romanov enraging players?

And so the drama at Hearts continues.

Lithuanian tycoon Vladamir Romanov has furthered provoked the Tynecastle support this month by dropping captain Steven Pressley from the team and relegating Robbie Nielson and Paul Hartley to bit part players.

The reason for the trio’s demise? Their refusal to be cowed by the bullying owner and acquiesce to his demands.
Craig Gordon, Pressley and Hartley called a press conference earlier this month to read a statement about how the club was being run after yet another manager - the seventh in just over a year - had been brought in. From the minute Pressley began reading from his statement, the three were condemned.

Yet there is a groundswell of support for the Hearts captain who refused to play against Falkirk after uncovering a plot by Romanov to have him ousted as captain. Instead of confronting his captain , Romanov was behind an attempted dressing room coup in which certain players approached others and invited them to pass a vote of no confidence in their leader. As was inevitable, word got back to Pressley and he felt unable to play against Falkirk.

Earlier this month Pressley was an inaugural inductee into the Hearts hall of fame. That neither the owner nor any director of the club chose to attend the occasion told the fans all they needed to know about the current regime's respect for the history of the club.

Pressley is in the last season of his contract at Tynecastle, although a one year extension would be triggered if he plays in 25 games - he is currently on 18 after being recalled to the side at the weekend. The captain's reward for his unstinting loyalty should eventually have been a coaching position at Riccarton, but now, at the age of 33, he is set to pay dearly for daring to speak out about the problems at Hearts.

Although suspicion falls on the Lithuanian players as pawns in Romanov's game, others such as Jose Goncalves and Bruno Aguiar have been put in unenviable positions. On loan from FBK Kaunas, they know that a false step could see them playing in Lithuania when the new season starts there next year.

The splintered nature of Tynecastle is now beyond the diplomatic skills of Pressley, who, along with players such as Hartley, Gordon and Takis Fyssas, cemented the cracks last season.

Although he plans to become a coach, Pressley envisages at least 18 more months as a player. There has been talk that he could be the short-term answer to Paul Le Guen's central defensive problems, but Dundee United will certainly be keen to persuade the Scotland player that he could have an influential role at Tannadice.

Even as recently as the hall of fame dinner, Pressley was convinced that his future lay at Tynecastle. Romanov’s treachery has shattered that illusion, and now it appears to be a matter of which club manages to secure his services.

The Hearts support have protested and made their feelings known, but there is little they can do to influence the man who now holds the reigns of the club and the future of the Edinburgh club is looking shakier by the day.

Given that Romanov never cleared the club's debts when he took over but simply transferred them to one of his own banks, there are financial problems for Hearts that have never been addressed. Should the Lithuanian simply decide to sell up and bail out of Scotland, it could be that Hearts will not find another buyer. Scary thoughts indeed.

Rangers: Paul Le Guen

And finally things are starting to happen for Paul Le Guen.

The Frenchman has secured Rangers’ entry into the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup and will be relieved that the pressure on him and his side is starting to lift.

To add further cheer, the Ibrox side thumped Kilmarnock at the weekend and for the first time under Le Guen’s regime Rangers have won three successive games.

Yet, for all the injection of some much needed feel good factor at Ibrox it is too early, as some have suggested, of this side going all the way to winning the UEFA Cup, the Final of which will be held in Glasgow next May.

While the celebrations may be fully merited, the fact remains that there are serious flaws in the Rangers backline that still have to be addressed.

After months of under-performance and under-achievement, the manager senses his team may finally be generating some momentum on the back of three positive results, but to most observers - and many fans - the solidity he craves remains absent.

"I hope we have improved," said Le Guen when asked to compare Rangers now, and back in August. "I think the players are gelling together and the team spirit is better today than it was a few weeks ago.

“We must still adapt better to the Scottish game, but I do think we have improved and we are on the right road," he added. "Even if we conceded two goals against Auxerre, I think we've improved. I feel our way of defending now is better. But better is not good enough."

Clearly. Given a simple long ball over the top proved too much for Brahim Hemdani and Karl Svensson when Auxerre took the lead against Rangers in the UEFA Cup, and the French side's second goal came from the sort of cross which troubled the defence all night.

Le Guen refuses to single any individual out for blame, trotting out the familiar line that it is up to the whole team to defend. Hemdani has been one of the team's more consistent performers this season, he is clearly more suited to a holding midfield role than that as a centre-half. Le Guen insists he has been working hard with his defenders, although he admits the demands of European football have restricted the time he has been able to devote to such matters.

"I'm trying to get more stability, to work on the pitch even if we don't get enough time,” he said. “ But when we have a complete week, we try and work on that. I have chats with the players to make them understand the improvement they need to make.

"It is good we only have one European game before Christmas because we will have more time to work. The week before last was a good example of that. We didn't have a European game so we had time and it is useful when we have many young players and many new players."

"I think it was a relief for everybody and we can become more confident because we are sure to be in European competition in February. Such games give experience and it is good for the players to be involved. I think my players were aware that they needed to work harder for each other and they have done what they needed to do."