Bhoys To Men

In the end, I suppose, they were robbed of the three points that their commitment and effort, if not perhaps the general flow of the game, deserved.

So Celtic claw back some pride and make the away game in Denmark look like being the match that will decide if they are to play in Europe after Christmas.

Two points from two home games, albeit one against the champions, is not much to show from this campaign.

Make no mistake Celtic's Champions League campaign has been disastrous. The draw against Aalborg was one of the most insipid home performances you are likely to see in Europe this season. The Old Trafford game was, as the man said, men against boys.

So last night may have restored some pride, brought a little faith back to the masses, but it can't be used to mask the fact that Celtic have taken a big step backwards this season. Another season of tit for tat with the boys in blue won't make up for that.

Nacho Nogo

Ooh, aah, Nacho Novo's Da?

Should we welcome Nacho Novo into the Scotland team with open arms?

He's lived here for years. His family is Scottish. He would give George Burley an option that he's sorely lacking at the moment.

But. But. I'm not convinced. National teams should have an emotional attachment. The ties with the native land have to be powerful enough - you have to want to play for the team like the fans do. International football, and the fans who slavishly follow it, deserves nothing less.

In the Novo case how could it look like anything more than an aging player accepting second best after missing out on his proper team? I am aware that some people have said accepting Novo into the Scotland team would be mature, would be a sign of a grown up, multicultural Scotland. Hmmm.

I think it would take a lot more than Nacho playing at Hampden for Scotland to grow up.

And I don't hold with the argument that a lot of players with less connection than Novo have played before. Many of us have always felt uneasy with the Craig Brown tactic of scouring family trees. Novo may be the logical conclusion of that pattern but it is a trend we should be moving away from not embracing.

There is also the question of other players doing similar things with other countries. Inescapably we think of James McCarthy and Aiden McGeady. Without agreeing or disagreeing with those two I would say that they at least have made the decision early in their careers and obviously feel a strong emotional attachment with Ireland. That in itself is nothing new - as Pat Crerand proved in his autobiography when he claimed that playing for Scotland was always second best.

I also feel that widespread adoption of the passport rule will severely undermine the international game. Countries that can afford to ship in the best young talent from around the world would suddenly have the very best players qualifying for their national teams. That is wrong.

International football is already creaking, despised by the money that runs football. If Novo was given a Scotland cap would the game not descend into the farce of beach volleyball where Brazil's second best players can jump ship to the well known beach volleyball centre that is Georgia?

The modern games treats fans badly enough, to allow international football to be further devalued would be an insult too far.

Paddy Crerand: Never Turn the Other Cheek

Mysteries

Football's obsession with the big names means that the star men are always on display.

No surprise then that the ever predictable ITV Champion's League coverage should scan the crowd for Fernando Torres when Liverpool went 1-0 down.

Truly a case of millionaire footballer is expressionless when paymasters lose goal to former paymasters.

The intriguing thing was young Torres appeared to be sitting next to Tony Booth. Was it actually him?

What were they talking about? Was Fernando asking how Tony's son in law was finding retirement? Was he asking about Tony's tempestuous love affair with Coronation Street's Pat Phoenix? The travails of socialism in Spain and England?

ITV should get their best man, or failing that Matt Smith, on the case.

Sticks and stones

Is Gordon Strachan right to be so annoyed that a besuited - and you would suggest slightly tipsy - Jambo called him an arsehole?

Surely he gets called much worse every week - often by his own fans. This weekend showed once again that supporters increasingly consider nothing about a player off bounds when it comes to shouting abuse. And fans visiting the citadel of bonhomie that is Celtic Park will be fully aware of the extent of the vocabulary Celtic fans can turn on when faced with the supporters of 'wee teams.'

So why the fuss? Was it because this was a fan who had paid good money? That's a bit naive, my experience of football hospitality is that the fans are better dressed but equally boorish.

Was it because this was a solitary fan? In which case is Gordon condoning the gang mentality that can see thousands shouting abuse at players and managers? And will Hearts look to take action against whole sections of their support the next time they call a referee an arsehole or, God forbid, worse?

Was it because it was after the game? I'd say that would be a bit unrealistic of Gordon. Emotions run high, and are unlikely to have simmered down completely only half an hour after the final whistle.

Of course maybe Gordon was just annoyed because he doesn't think he's an arsehole. Surely a subject where objectivity is impossible?

It all seems a bit of a storm in teacup to me, another in a long week of them. Another example of how Gordon's never been entirely comfortable in the crazy world that is life as an Old Firm manager.

Was it because this was a solitary fan? In which case is Gordon condoning the gang mentality that can see thousands shouting abuse at players and managers? And will Hearts look to take action against whole sections of their support the next time they call a referee an arsehole or, God forbid, worse?

Was it because it was after the game? I'd say that would be a bit unrealistic of Gordon. Emotions run high, and are unlikely to have simmered down completely only half an hour after the final whistle.

Of course maybe Gordon was just annoyed because he doesn't think he's an arsehole. Surely a subject where objectivity is impossible?

The Life of Reilly

A belated happy 80th birthday to Lawrie Reilly.

The spearhead of the Famous Five that achieved such dominance in the Scottish game for Hibs in the early 1950's Reilly also performed spectacularly for Scotland and scored five times in five visits to Wembley.

He remains Hibs most capped player and it seems inconceivable now that someone playing for a side outside of Glasgow's big two could become such a mainstay of the international side.

Reilly's 22 goals from 38 caps gives him the second best goals average for any player who has pulled on the dark blue more than 10 times.

That it is Hughie Gallacher who leads him in the record table provides a fitting contrast: the tragic Gallacher's destructive retirement could not be further removed from the dignified life Reilly has led away from the game.

Still a regular at Easter Road, Reilly - and his surviving Famous Five comrade Eddie Turnbull - provides a welcome reminder of a different time in Scottish football.

And, yes, Lawrie remains as perplexed as anyone as to how the Easter Road Scottish Cup jinx survived the dominance of the Famous Five.

Great Scott!

Harry Redknapp improbably turns Spurs from zeroes to heroes, from villainy to last gasp valiance in the blink of an eye.

Joe Kinnear rants, raves and ruminates but turns Joey Barton from A Wing to A list as Newcastle rediscover some sort of fire in their bloated Geordie bellies.

And who completes this list of improbable sixty something success stories? Who's next to silver surf the tide of glory?

Probably not Jocky Scott. Newly installed as manager of Dundee, Jocky is back. His tenth managerial job - although the third time he has been at the helm at Dens. One of the great survivors of the Scottish game is Mr Scott, his 61st birthday speeding towards him as surely as night follows day.

And, when I say one of the great survivors, I mean one of those great underachieving characters that seem to punctuate this great, incestuous mire we call Scottish football.

Good luck, of course, to Jocky who does seem to have a love affair with Dundee. And good luck to the long suffering Dundonians in dark blue who might find this appointment another test of their spectacular patience.

Jocky managed to get a draw with Airdrie United today, a result which actually moved them closer to the automatic drop zone thanks to scores elsewhere.

A case of third time lucky? Or familiarity breeding contempt? We shall see...

A welcome injury?

It's clear that footballers don't like to be injured. But sometimes it's maybe not a bad thing...

For those of us that like to see Scots prosper down south - and who find Chelsea victories as welcome as Jonathan Ross at a dinner party hosted by Andrew Sachs - we could take some comfort from Craig Gordon's enforced absence from the walkover at the Bridge.

That sprained ankle has had a knock on affect for one of Gordon's old Edinburgh Derby foes. Nick Colgan found himself sitting on Sunderland's bench, the much travelled and never knowingly convincing Irishman now the third choice keeper at Sunderland.

At least Craig should find his place in the team ready and waiting on his return.