Scottish Premier League Update

Ali Hannah on the latest from the Scottish Premier League, July 2008

Celtic | Rangers | Hearts

Celtic Roundup

Celtic have been linked with numerous players this last month but so far they have secured the signature of just one. Pat McCourt wasn't a name that was familiar to many Parkhead fans little more than a couple of weeks ago, but the midfielder McCourt was pinched from under the noses of West Brom and is something of an unknown quantity.

A Northern Ireland full international by the age of 18 and with clubs in the English Premier League monitoring his progress, the winger's sudden ascent was followed by an equally dramatic plummet. Released by Rochdale, rejected by Motherwell, he was forced into taking a backwards step, rediscovering his form with Shamrock Rovers before moving to Derry City, his hometown team, where he has performed to critical acclaim for the past three seasons.

His upwards trajectory was set to lead him to West Bromwich Albion this summer only for Celtic to hijack the deal at the last minute.

There is something quite poignant about Gordon Strachan's decision to afford this tousled-hair winger a second chance at the big time. In an era where the Old Firm tend to pick off the best Scottish players from the competition or look for bargains on the continent, it was unusual to see one half taking a chance on a player in his mid-20s from an undistinguished background.

The speed with which the deal was completed and the fact that McCourt grew up as a Celtic fan only adds to the comic book overtones. The player, unsurprisingly, is still coming to terms with it all.

"It's been hectic because it all happened so fast - no-one was expecting it," he confessed. "With West Brom it had built up over five or six weeks and everyone knew they were interested. For Celtic to come in when they did was amazing and that caught the imagination of everyone back home.

"I was shocked. You normally have some wee inkling that a club is interested but I had heard nothing. To get the call at the 11th hour was an amazing feeling. They West Brom had agreed a fee last week with Derry and I had flown over and near-enough agreed personal terms and had a medical booked for the next day. But once Celtic showed their interest there was only one place I wanted to be. I was straight up the road and got it done on the Thursday night."

McCourt is no dreamy-eyed romantic, however. He has arrived in Scotland hoping to belatedly fulfil his potential after the disappointments of his late teenage years.

"At the time, I didn't feel any pressure but when I look back now I was probably under pressure without actually noticing. I know Sammy Mcllroy former Northern Ireland manager said at the time I was going to be the next big thing for Northern Ireland and there was a lot of talk about me going to the Premier League but I tried to not let it affect me.

"When I look back now I think it might have done a wee bit. I might have taken my foot off the gas a bit and not done the things I was doing in the first couple of years. It wasn't like I turned into a bad player but maybe I thought I had done enough to get that move to the Premier League. So I had to take a step back and get back to enjoying my football and do what I was doing in the first few years.

"The last three years I've played the best football of my life. If Celtic think I can do it, then I have to think I can do it myself. It's got the potential to be life-changing. The way I was looking at it, I'm 24 now; if I had signed another three-year deal at Derry I would have been 27 so the boat would have passed at that age."

McCourt will seek advice from Neil Lennon, the Celtic coach and former Northern Ireland international, when pre-season training resumes next week. "I don't know him but I think he can be a big help to me. We all know the stuff he went through playing for Northern Ireland and he's came through that as a stronger and better person.

"I'm sure he'll have loads of advice for me and I'm looking forward to next Friday and getting to meet him. Being from Northern Ireland as well I'm sure he'll put his arm around me and tell me what to do and what not to do."

Fatherhood has played its part too, McCourt revealing that a settled family life has had a positive effect on his football. "I've got a little girl who's two and I've got another one on the way in November. I'm well settled in that respect. Laura, my partner, has been a big help.

"Once you're happy in your private life it tells in your football. The last three years I don't think it's a coincidence that it's the best football I've played. That all stems from being happy outside of football."

Meanwhile, Adam Virgo has taken a swipe at Gordon Strachan on his way out of the club. The defender cost Celtic £1.5m three years ago but played just ten first-team games before returning to Brighton this summer. "I was never given a chance," he complained. "If I had been given a run of ten games in central defence and then been told I wasn't good enough that would have been fine but I was played all over the place and never got a sustained run."

Rangers

Rangers started off as the busier of the Old Firm clubs with three immediate signings - Kenny Miller, Andrius Velicka and Kyle Lafferty. The club insist that there is a future for Kris Boyd who spent the bulk of last season warming the Ibrox bench and rejected advances from Championship side Cardiff for the Scotland international.

Lafferty was the most expensive signing of the trio and at £3m, the 20-year-old Northern Ireland striker is yet to show much else other than potential.

The Ibrox club's assistant manager Ally McCoist freely admits that his club have gambled with Burnley for the youngster. Effectively, after hitting the jackpot with the £9m sale of home-grown Alan Hutton to Tottenham Hotspur, Rangers have placed a stack of those chips on a player whose worth can only be measured in potential. Meanwhile, another chip was cashed in to tie up goalkeeper Allan McGregor on a 5-year long-term contract. McCoist believes that with such moves Rangers are paving the way for the future as Rangers and Celtic forget about splashing big money in the same careless manner they did in times gone past.

"There has to be a realisation among the fans that times have changed with the Old Firm and Scottish football," he says. "But, in an ideal world, I don't see why we can't be a team like Ajax or PSV Eindhoven. And by that I mean competing at the top level in Europe most years but, ultimately, requiring to sell your best talent to survive. I think these kinds of clubs have managed it perfectly. The financial situation down south dictates everything really.

"We can't afford to compete with these guys, so we have to look and see how we can get round that. I think the fans have a better realisation but (as with McGregor] it's a real boost to see that we won't sell them right away, we'll try and nurture them and keep them coming along.

"Ajax and PSV have been going to the likes of Brazil and getting Ronaldo and Romario as young kids. Obviously it's a gamble but it's one route I think we'd certainly have to think about going down. There is a fear factor to a certain degree, but I think the positives far outweigh the negatives. We can't go out and get the finished product at £12m - it's impossible. We can't afford it and we can't compete with the top clubs."

The sum of £12m was precisely what Ajax sold Ibrahimovic to Juventus for in 2004, following 32 goals in 73 league appearances for the club. Three years earlier, the Amsterdam club had parted with £5m to acquire the then 19-year-old from Malmo. But, unlike with Rangers and Kyle, Ajax acquired a proven goalscorer. Across a half century of appearances in his homeland, Ibrahimovic had netted a goal every other game.

Those who have watched Lafferty since he debuted at Turf Moor three years ago describe him as a player you either see it with or don't. Burnley's Belfast scout, Raymond Laverty, who "knew the kid was a diamond" at 15, detected a sparkle then missed by Northern Ireland selectors as he first watched the player on a park in Dungannon.

Until Lafferty's final month with Burnley, he was played out wide on the left, which helps explain why 83 league appearances for the club yielded only ten goals. It is a strike-rate in sharp contrast to his record at international level. Playing as a second striker behind David Healy, he has found the net five times in 16 appearances for his country. It was in this domain that McCoist was alerted to a gem capable of being buffed up - and the reason why Burnley were in a position last year to rebuff a £4m offer for the forward from Fulham, managed by his former international coach Lawrie Sanchez.

"Although we had him scouted at Burnley I never saw him there," McCoist says. "I watched him score against Sweden and against Georgia while playing through the middle and he really impressed me.

"It is important to get out and have a look because it is your judgment that determines whether they're going to come and how successful they'll be.

"There is more to Kyle than being a target man. He's very quick but can handle the physical side of it no problem, which is important. That won't scare him. He's also got a very nice touch for a big lad and I'm really looking forward to working with him because there is a lot of potential. He is desperate to do well and you love working with guys like that. He's got one or two other things in his locker, and the fact he played on the left hand side for Burnley shows that. It's an exciting year for him."

Lafferty might need to temper his excitement. As one of the mini-bus load of strikers Walter Smith can call upon after the summer recruitment of Miller and Velicka, the Irishman initially will have to defer to elders.

Indeed, McCoist places Miller above all his Scottish contemporaries. Which doesn't appear to square with the inability of the £2m capture from Derby to make himself indispensable at Celtic last year, or Rangers seven years ago. It's a CV that has made him an unacceptable acquisition in the eyes of some among the Ibrox support.

"I hope the fans give him a fair crack of the whip, that's all you can ask for," McCoist says. "Just treat him as a Rangers player on his form. The Old Firm is a tough place to play. There's a graveyard full of centre forwards and strikers who didn't make it for Rangers or Celtic.

"It's how you handle it and I've got no problems about Kenny's attitude and desire to do it, which I think will see him through. He's taken the more difficult option. It would have been easy to walk away and spend the next three years of his career elsewhere.

"But I hope he enjoys working with us because we enjoy working with him and I really hope it's fruitful for him. He's good enough, and anyone who says otherwise is talking nonsense. Of course fans are entitled to their opinion and that won't change. I think they are having a go because he played with Celtic and some are blinkered in that way.

"But in my opinion he's the best all-round Scottish striker at the moment. Boydie (Kris Boyd] has his goals, Faddy (James McFadden] has great talent and a wee spark, but pound for pound you'd have Kenny starting in your team before anyone."

Hearts

Hearts' majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov will seek to reduce the Tynecastle club's debt by £12million with a 'debt for equity' plan which will go before an extraordinary general meeting on July 31.

If the proposal is passed, UBIG, the Lithuanian bank of which Romanov is also a majority shareholder, will effectively increase their stake in the club from around 82% to approximately 95%.

Hearts' debt would be cut to by 30% which, in turn, will reduce current interest repayments by £600,000 per year. A statement on the club's website made reference to the proposed new 23,000-seater stadium while explaining the reasons behind the plan.

It read: "The motion to reduce the club's debt by 30% through a 'debt for equity' plan will improve cash flow and provide a long-term base for financing the new stadium, as well as strengthening the balance sheet. It also emphasises UBIG's commitment to Hearts."

Romanov has come under fire recently for failing to appoint a new manager, with Mark McGhee, Vladimir Weiss and Jurgen Rober having all turned down the opportunity to move to Gorgie in recent weeks. However, the statement claimed progress has been made on that front.

It continued: "A new team manager will be appointed shortly and the board of directors are confident that this manager should improve the situation on the pitch.

"The board are taking all necessary actions so that the right appointment is made."

The statement concluded with a swipe at the club's detractors, who have criticised Romanov for a lack of communication in recent months.

It added: "The board of directors state their desire to communicate through tangible actions, not hollow words. Supporters will be able to judge the board based on actions, which is how it should be.

"The ultimate owner Vladimir Romanov, the majority shareholding company UBIG, the board of directors and staff are working to take Hearts forward, united as a team.

"Supporters should be reassured that despite the challenges of the last few months, the club are confident of a vibrant and exciting future as a leading Scottish sporting institution.

"Tremendous progress has been made in the last three years, with yet more assured in the months and years ahead. As each step is completed supporters can be assured that full information will be announced - direct to supporters. The club will continue to implement the right decisions despite criticism from the sceptics."

Former Hearts chairman Leslie Deans has welcomed the news.

He said: "I would like to see the club's debt lower but this is a sensible way forward and demonstrates commitment from the majority shareholder. It is the same kind of plan that Rangers undertook two or three years ago when they found their debts were on the high ground and that was successful. This proposal can be seen in the same way. Not only does it reduce the club's debt, it is a demonstration of faith.

"It sends an important message to the fans. Not many people would put £12million in to a football club. There are other issues to be addressed at the moment, especially the vacant manager's job, but this is good news. I would find it surprising if there are any objections to the proposal. If there are, I would like to hear their ideas for bringing in £12million."

Hamilton Accies

SPL new boys Hamilton Accies were the first team back at pre-season this month and Billy Reid's side are thrilled at the prospect of top-flight football.

They will be the tip of many an observer as the team to go straight back down again, but the Accies manager has other ideas.

Striker Richard Offiong may not be a household name at the moment, but Reid believes that will change when the new campaign gets under way in the second week of August.

Offiong's career has taken him across Europe to Belgium and Turkey, and even as far as South Korea, but Reid thinks the striker will make his mark on the SPL and its defences.

"Richard has all the qualities to make his mark on the SPL," Reid said. "He has strength pace and power and these are all vital attributes when you get to this level. If he wants it enough, and I'm sure he does, he will be a big hit. He's been at a few places and done nothing for whatever reason.

"But he seems to have found a niche here and we have encouraged him - as we do all the players. His self belief has picked up since he came to us he's scored a goal every two games which is a good ratio. Now we're stepping up from the First Division to The SPL but I see no reason why he can't continue his progress."

Ali Hannah

World Cup Ticket Store
All Matches - Categories 1-3

Hostels in Scotland

Hostelworld.com
Edinburgh
Glasgow
St. Andrews

England

"The Onside In-Site" Copyright © From 2000. All rights reserved. Soccerphile Ltd.