Light at the end of Euro tunnel

ADAM ROONEY’S move to Salford City says nothing at all about the declining fortunes of Scottish football. The plunging UEFA club coefficient? That’s a rather different story. In 2004-05, Scotland were tenth in the list of Europe’s best performing clubs, with automatic slots in the Champions League. Thirteen years later, the current placing is 26th. Results are so bad we’re now below Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Serbia — and perilously close to being overtaken by Belarus and Kazakhstan. These things matter because the lower the coefficient, the more rounds teams have to negotiate to reach the group stage. Managers now have to throw a double six to have any hope of reaching the third qualifying round, never mind the main event. It’s easy — and legitimate — to point fingers at UEFA for stacking the cards in favour of the big five leagues. But so much of the damage is entirely self-inflicted. Scots sides have underperformed in the early rounds of Europe to an embarrassing degree. And, let’s be clear on this, the trend began long before the Rangers meltdown of 2012. Positive results for Celtic, the Ibrox side, Hibs and Aberdeen this week, then, are both welcome and timely. Right now, SPFL sides have a record of played ten in Europe, won eight, drawn two and lost none. The last time that happened was season 1982-83. It’s always dangerous to get carried away by first legs. It could all look rather different by next week. Aberdeen and Hibs, in particular, are up against it in Burnley and Greece. But this week’s results are a start. Stop losing to Progres Niederkorn, Lincoln Red Imps, Sigma Olomouc and Vaduz and things might really start to improve.