Lennon rues fitness setbacks

Celtic’s hopes of continuing to play in Europe after Christmas already look bleak in the football betting odds but they might have become even less likely after Kris Commons picked up a hamstring injury and Scott Brown was handed a three-match ban.

Having already been beaten by AC Milan and Barcelona, a Champions League double-header against Ajax would appear to give Neil Lennon’s side the chance to gain at least third spot in the group and an opportunity to play in the Europa League in the new year. But full back Mikael Lustig, is also a major doubt for the visit of the Dutch side to Glasgow after sustaining a hip injury during Sweden’s World Cup qualifier against Austria, which forced him to sit out his country’s 5-3 home defeat to Germany.

Adam Matthews is out for three months with a shoulder injury so Lennon’s right-back options are extremely limited.

According to betfair, the 42-year-old former Leicester City midfielder said: "We have two very good right-backs who may not be fit for the Ajax game.

"Mikael's hip locked against Austria. He does have hip and groin problems and we will have to manage him during the week. Efe Ambrose had played international football at right-back so he is a possibility."

Dutch winger, Derk Boerrigter, is still struggling with an ankle complaint and he is unlikely to be back for the game against his former club, who have only picked up one point from their first two Champions League group encounters.

Joe Ledley's fitness might not allow him to play the full game although Emilio Izaguirre has recovered from illness.

Lennon has also revealed that the club will be appealing against the three-game European suspension imposed by UEFA on Brown following his red card in the Champions League defeat by Barcelona.

Can Liverpool Lead Celtic and Rangers To TV Riches?

Football's television money will forever turn heads.

The Guardian reports that:

"The deal that shares television's billions equally between Premier League clubs is facing its biggest threat to date after Liverpool announced they would lead a challenge for overseas TV rights to be sold on a club-by-club basis." (www.guardian.co.uk)

A debate, Liverpool's men in suits say, that needs to happen.

For any doubters this is proof that the game's elite hardly saw the recent court ruling on the cross border availability of satellite TV coverage as a Robin Hood-esque win for the downtrodden poor over the nasty rich.

It's no surprise that top English clubs, whose gods are all financial, want to maximise their profits while raising the drawbridge on competition.

Does it mean anything for Scotland?

It could.

I'd be amazed if this issue wasn't being closely tracked in the boardrooms of Ibrox and Celtic Park.

I've written before about Ajax's desire to break free from their league's collective Eredivisie Live TV channel and market their own rights separately.

They argue that the television riches of the modern game's biggest leagues have robbed them of their elite status and only by jettisoning any sense of duty to the rest of the Dutch league can they hope to clamber back to the top table.

Celtic and Rangers will gauge, correctly, that they are the only real overseas draw the SPL have.

They would also fancy being freed from a collective deal at home. They'll know exactly how many viewers they draw to the SPL coverage on Sky and ESPN. Without seeing the figures I'd guess that the average audience of around 160,000 across 60 live games would be much smaller if the Old Firm were removed from the equation.

If the concept of these existing collective deals begins to shatter across Europe Celtic and Rangers will have the precedent they need to agitate for their own breakaway.

The onus on the SPL to get their next television deal right would seem to have become ever more important.

A refreshing wind of opportunity might just have blown through Glasgow.

There's likely to be a storm of foreboding gathering over every other SPL club.

Donate to the Scottish Football Blog Blogathon, 19 November 2011