Celtic Park needs fear factor more than wow factor

VALENCIA coach Marcelino (right) is the latest coach to brand a European night at Parkhead an ‘extraordinary’ experience. But Celtic Park is not Edinburgh Castle or the Falkirk Wheel or the SSE Hydro. People don’t go there to see the Rolling Stones. Or cruise round it in a big red bus. In football terms, it should be a hellish place for opposition players and managers to go. Teams from the big five leagues shouldn’t regard it as a visitor attraction. It should feel like a torture chamber. The economics of Scottish football dictate that Celtic can’t go out and sign £35million wingers like Valencia. But they do have a comparable wage bill to Europa League semi-finalists Red Bull Salzburg. They pay more than Real Betis, Rapid Vienna, Rennes or Malmo. Scotland’s champions are not so poor that they had to re-sign 32-year-old Emilio Izaguirre at left-back. Or so bereft that they have to ask Scott Brown to defy the ageing process when he’s knocking on 34. Fans fret over how much money Celtic spend in the transfer market. But how they spend it is the bigger issue. Player recruitment in recent windows has offered some poor bang for their buck. Against Valencia, players could barely pass the ball to each other or get the basics right. This week France Football magazine ranked Celtic the 21st biggest club in the world after granting points for history, attendances and social media followers. But entry to the executive lounge can’t be based on what happens off the pitch. The world’s top teams are measured by what they do on it. The noise, the banners and the pre-match lights make European nights at Parkhead a nice spectacle. But while the top 20 of the France

Football list is filled with teams performing in the latter stages of the Champions League, Celtic now find themselves in the Europa League. Clinging to the last 32 by their fingertips.