Stadium of blight turmoil
The old Russian physiologist was the fellow who figured out he could make his dog drool with the sound of a bell.
His poor mutt was conditioned to start slavering as the noise meant din dins was on the way.
Pavlov got a Nobel prize, his dug became famous and a byword for predi c t able behav ioura l react ions to certain circumstances.
A bit like when Celtic crash out of Europe and some folk start foaming at the mouth.
The Parkhead side are out their depth, big-game bottlers, blimey, even Brendan Rodgers copped it from some of the more jerky-kneed Hoops punters.
Steady on a second guys. Celtic losing in St Petersburg – and comfortably gubbed at that – shouldn’t have come as any sort of surprise.
It was the week before and the win in Glasgow that was the turn- up for the book s , not the collapse on the road.
Have some people not watched Celtic or Scottish football as a whole in Europe for the past three decades?
Thursday night was only the seventh time since 1980 they’d gone beyond Christmas on the continent. Yeah, seven times in 38 years.
There was the Seville season, the UEFA quarters the next year, a couple of Champions League last-16 appearances under Gordon Strachan, again under Neil Lennon and Ronny Deila’s Europa League last 32 three years ago. That’s it.
Unlike Pavlov’s dug, Celtic don’t have a pedigree chum at this level. They certainly don’t winalot.
Knees might be jerking so hard shoes are in danger of flying off but the reality is the other night was where reality and expectation crossed on the graph and went their separate ways.
Punters might not have liked hearing Rodgers talking about how hard it is for his side to compete these days but the truth hurts. Yes, Celtic were fairly honking in Russia. Zenit were no great shakes either.
But there still remains a gap in talent and finance that is getting wider by the minute.
It doesn’t take a Kremlin hacker to see what Celtic are up against. Park the Champions League for a second, that’s a whole new stratosphere.
In the Europa League 15 out of the last 16 teams have wage bills more than double Celtic’s.
Only Viktoria Plzen spend less on players than the Hoops, and they landed a decent draw against Partizan Belgrade, who are another side in exactly the same leaky boat as Celtic as a former European giant lost amid the modern times.
The Champions League is a cartel but the Europa is every bit as much a closed shop. Italy, Germany, France, England and Russia hog the spaces. What chance do we have when the Dutch don’t even have a side in Europe after Christmas?
What sides like Celtic need to do is come across a decent crop and get them streetwise enough to be competitive when they build a head of steam.
They have managed to do that to an extent when up against similar sides but when it comes to making the next leap they’ve landed flat on their face.
Reaching the Champions League and getting to the last 32 in the Europa isn’t par for the course – it’s overachieving.
The dosh that’s been banked does have to be used better in the summer as they got to the big groups by the skin of their teeth last season and it will be even harder next time providing the Premiership is wrapped up.
That should be a given even if it has been made to look hard work of late. Celtic haven’t failed to win three league games on the
spin since November 2012 but anything other than three points at Pittodrie today and a testing week for Rodgers becomes a traumatic one.
They might be working with hugely different budgets but both managers will have a similar feeling this afternoon. Rodgers is getting caned for slumping against teams with much more money and likewise Derek McInnes cops it for flopping in exactly the same circumstances.
Wait and see what happens if Aberdeen get thumped again today. It will be Aberdonian knees jerking again and they’ll be getting hit with exactly the same patter being thrown at Celtic in the past 48 hours.
Pavlov’s dog might have drooled but punters in this county can be barking when their teams fall short of their unrealistic expectations. Sunderland face the threat of going into administration if owner Ellis Short fails to sell the club.
Although Short has cut the asking price to around £ 50m – and could even consider lower bids – there have been no takers as the Black Cats continue their slide towards League One.
Debts of around £130m are putting off investors, but Short knows he can’t keep subsidising a club believed to be losing £3m a month.
He is holding off bringing in the administrators because a mandator y 12-point deduction would seal Sunderland’s relegation.
But if no one comes forward in the summer then he could be forced to act, meaning that next season will see the Black Cats start off on minus-12 points, whatever division they’re in.
Short has only attended one home game this season and has moved back to live in his native USA.
The day-to- day running of the club is handled by former Rangers chief executive Martin Bain.
A German consortium held discussions to buy the club after their relegation from the Premier League but that fel l through. A Chinese group are said to be interested but are yet to act.
Meanwhile, fans fear the worst if Short stays in control. There is no budget for players and relegation to the third f l ight for the second time in their history will see the best players leave.