English club's 5-0 win merely illustrates the huge gulf in ability and resources between the Premier League and the SPL
Ewan Murray
European competition is the most useful barometer when judging a league's basic standing against others on the continent. With that in mind, Tottenham's assassination of Hearts on Thursday night was wounding to those involved in Scottish football, not just at the Tynecastle club.
Those who become misty-eyed at the memory of Scottish clubs competing with ? and regularly beating ? opposition from south of the border must appreciate that, for now at least, such scenarios are an unattainable dream. As harrowing as it was to watch, Spurs didn't teach onlookers anything new during their 5-0 win at Tynecastle; they merely illustrated a massive gulf in ability and resources in the most brutal of ways.
Neil Lennon believes one way to cure the pain of Scottish football's latest inauspicious European week is to seek more legitimate football comparisons.
"I don't work myself into a tizzy about the English Premier League, I don't look on enviously about it ? and I don't think we should in Scotland," Lennon says. "We should look at what we've got and start making the most of it, instead of always comparing ourselves to England.
"We over-familiarise ourselves with the English league. We drool over it instead of just concentrating on what we have got, trying to improve it and making the most of it. The comparison is night and day because there is a huge financial difference. It's the same for Celtic and Rangers, the gap to Premier League wages is so big.
"I think there is a huge over-reaction at the minute. I don't think there is a lot wrong with the Scottish game, but you can't compare it to the English game."
If others were taken aback by the margin of Spurs' success, Lennon insists logic suggested otherwise. "There really is a huge financial difference ? and one in the quality of players," he added. "Spurs reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They beat Inter Milan, they beat AC Milan, so it was no surprise they won the game. Maybe the surprise was the scoreline, maybe the Hearts players didn't do themselves justice."
The reality is that England, rather than Scotland, is the exception in the current football and economic climate. Several other leagues across Europe are struggling for resource, with the Premier League one of precious few that can rely on massive broadcast income and an attraction to potential billionaire club owners.
There are footnotes to Lennon's point, of course. A financial gap between the Old Firm and other clubs in Scotland has prompted a domestic duopoly in the recent past, with few people in Glasgow complaining about that. It is also the case that Celtic would demand top dollar for any player ? Ki Sung-yueng merely the latest ? who is courted by a leading English club without highlighting a disparity between the SPL and the Premier League.
Yet even Celtic have discovered the change in British football's landscape can hinder their recruitment plans. Lennon was priced out of a move for Jimmy Bullard a year ago and there is currently little indication that Craig Bellamy shares the Celtic manager's desire to have the Welshman back at Parkhead on a loan deal. Not so long ago, and when Lennon was a Celtic player, such moves were well within their capabilities.
The ease at which Spurs cantered to victory in Edinburgh surely wouldn't convince top-level players that the SPL is a suitably tough environment. "Possibly," Lennon concedes. "I'm not pointing the finger at anybody in that respect, but it is a hard sell. I won't deny that. We have looked at players in the Championship looking for money that is far beyond our remit at the minute."
The 40-year-old would have little desire to move to a middle- or lower-ranked English top-flight club, but the money on offer means scores of players have other ideas. It is no coincidence that Martin O'Neill's Celtic side defeated Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool on the way to the Uefa Cup final of 2003; at that juncture, the respective managers were at least shopping in similarly branded department stores.
With the current, difficult picture in mind, Lennon has pin-pointed Europa League success as a means of keeping Celtic in the wider consciousness. Thursday's scoreless draw at home to Sion didn't satisfy the manager, who believes progression to the group phase could be significant.
"I just want the prestige of it," Lennon says. "I think Europe is important for clubs like ours. If we can get through and make a show of things at European level, it might tempt people to come here. It could at least be an attraction.
"It's a good selling point. You have one of the biggest fixtures in world football to come and play in, as well. You get a chance to play in Europe, the chance to compete for trophies and you have a huge following. You don't want to lose that, that's why, again, it was disappointing on Thursday, but if we can tide that over, get through it, then you never know where it could take us."
Any such run would raise the national football mood. As things stand, optimism is as rare as finance.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/aug/20/tottenham-hearts-europa-league
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