Europe; bonus or burden?
I am a strong defender of free speech and the inalienable right to express a forthright opinion in the face of scorn and hostility from those who would decry that opinion as nonsense.
Let’s face it, I’ve made a lengthy career out of ignoring what we’ll politely describe as public scepticism.
But I had to admire Boli Bolingoli’s nerve at the weekend when he declared Celtic were capable of reaching the latter stages of the Europa League that gets underway on Thursday night.
There are times when circumspection is your best bet. Moments when it is best to privately acknowledge the failings of the past, subconsciously hope for better in the future, and simply not tempt providence in case providence has it in for you in the present day.
Such as in Rennes when Celtic’s group stage matches get underway this week.
Europe has provided the one and only stain on Neil Lennon’s record this season, that blemish coming on the night when the manager felt he couldn’t trust Bolingoli to play in defence against FC Cluj in the Champions League qualifier at Celtic Park.
It was a sense of concern so potent the manager put Callum McGregor where Bolingoli should have been and had his team selection mocked when Celtic shipped four goals at home and exited the competition.
Taking that and other recent disappointments on the European stage into consideration, might it not be better to adhere to the old cliché about doing your talking out on the park?
Bolingoli’s stock has risen since the pock marked start to his career in Scotland that came after arriving from Rapid Vienna, but he is not yet at the stage where he can take occupancy of a rooftop and start shouting about what Celtic will do in a group containing the French side, Lazio and the aforementioned Cluj.
The Europa League groups should be approached with caution by Celtic and Rangers.
They could be a bonus. They could be a burden.
Steven Gerrard, I would imagine, won’t be in any mood to tempt fate after watching his marquee signing in the transfer window seriously injure himself in his debut match at Ibrox on Saturday.
Being without the seven million pound Ryan Kent is a blow at the start of a group comprising Feyenoord, Young Boys and Porto.
Both he and Lennon should be mindful that they are in with some tasty opponents and be wary of Europe having a residual effect that could affect morale on a domestic basis.
They are engaged in the most febrile championship competition in the history of Scottish football and neither wants self-esteem damaged by suffering a going over from foreign opposition somewhere.
But there are, on the other hand, those who, to employ a West of Scotland expression to cover an East of Scotland situation, could not get a red neck from a blow torch.
Celtic and Rangers will play their next league games on Sunday as a consequence of European participation.
They will share the Premiership stage with an Edinburgh derby the like of which has rarely been seen. It is a game at Easter Road where the losing manager could be excused waving farewell to the crowd at the end and preparing for unemployment.
But Hearts’ Craig Levein took a leaf out of Bolingoli’s eternally optimistic book at the weekend and blithely ignored the reality of his situation for a walk in the clouds far above the ground that is moving under his feet.
Hearts have not won a game since March, taken three league points from a possible thirty-six and have slumped to the bottom of the table while police hold back demonstrators outside Tynecastle.
You would, you might think, keep your head down under those circumstances, right?
Or, then again, you could allow yourself to be quoted as saying your team is only six points off fourth place and compound the felony by adding, “I don’t consider that to be a huge problem.”
Craig, if you’ve won three points in six months then the law of averages says making up six points could take a year, by which time you’ll be relegated. I, and the protestors, would consider that to be a problem.
If Hearts lose to their biggest rivals then it would be dereliction of duty on the part of the club’s owner, Ann Budge, if she did not address the state of crisis which engulfs her club.
If Hibs, without a win since the first day of the season, lose the derby there would be a need for the hierarchy at Easter Road to consider what is best for the greater good of the club when it comes to Paul Heckingbottom’s position.
Scottish football runs on a boom or bust philosophy.
The crowd at Hampden were Steve Clarke’s Tartan Army after going a goal up against Russia ten days ago and then the same people booed the team off the park at full-time after the visitors had won.
Lennon got a treble treble over the line at Hampden in May and then had to listen to a section of the Celtic support describe his permanent appointment as manager as a downgrade from his predecessor, Brendan Rodgers.
Gerrard will not be so naïve as to think he will be considered immune from criticism by the fans if anything should go seriously wrong at Rangers.
That’s why it’s best not to assure either set of supporters that they should prepare for European glory.
The outpouring of supportive acclaim for positivity will soon turn to howls of derision and demands for heads if a breach of promise should occur at some stage