The SPFL battlefield is no country for old men
IN this week of all weeks, it is easy to hammer on about how the transfer policy for all top-end Scottish clubs should be to source young talent at low rates and sell high. One late winner in a Merseyside derby provides pretty compelling support.
Virgil van Dijk, the scorer of that goal for Liverpool in their 2-1 victory over Everton on Friday night, is the needle in a haystack that all scouts, managers and chief executives dream about.
Signed from Groningen at the age of 21 for £2.6million, punting him on to Southampton for £13m two years later — with a ten-per-cent kickback to be paid to his old club — was a result in itself for Celtic.
That a future move to Liverpool should deliver £7.5m more by way of another of those ten-per-cent sell-on fees is that extra spoonful of sugar in your full-fat Irn-Bru.
With Moussa Dembele ready to go for a fee in the region of £18m now, there is little sign of life in the Parkhead club’s accounts department losing any of its sweetness.
Dembele and van Dijk are prime examples of a transfer policy paying off. It might be a while until another two like them come along again.
For every deal that works, there will most probably be more than one Stefan Scepovic, Cristian Gamboa or Eboue Kouassi to deal with.
However, that is part of the inevitable gamble in placing faith in potential rather than proven capability. In Scotland, it remains the only way to go.
One thing is now certain. The Scottish Premiership can no longer serve as a repository for has-beens topping up their pension plans.
As Rangers begin their clear-out on the south side of the city, it should mark the end of an era.
As the Old Firm, in particular, have come to terms with no longer being able to compete on a level footing in the transfer market, there has always been the temptation to pull the wool over the punters’ eyes by bringing in a big name in the twilight of his career.
The hope is that twinkle of stardust may be enough to divert the attention from gaping holes in the fabric underneath.
Rangers have been particularly guilty of late. There was at least a case to be made for bringing in Joey Barton in the summer of 2016. Despite being 33, he had enjoyed a good season at Burnley. Turns out it was his last.
The less said about Niko Kranjcar, the better. Plucked from America’s second-tier on a handsome wage, his 45-minute appearance in that 5-1 loss at Celtic remains a prime example of precisely why the SPFL top flight is no place for ageing players — no matter their CV — who have lost it physically and, perhaps, mentally.
Barton and Kranjcar couldn’t cope. Clearly, Bruno Alves can’t either.
With fitness an issue, the Portuguese defender has been looking for the exit door for some time now. At 36, the likes of the Middle East will provide a more sedate environment in which to wind down.
Celtic have not been free of this curse either. As Barton and Kranjcar were arriving at Ibrox, Carlton Cole was on his way out of Parkhead, having delivered nothing during nine months on the books other than solid confirmation his days as an EPL striker were distant history.
Celtic’s current manager Brendan Rodgers may argue that Kolo Toure helped negotiate last season’s Champions League qualifiers and brought so much to the training ground that he had to be taken onto the coaching staff. But the fact remains that, 35-year-old Toure made only one more start following a home pasting by Borussia Monchengladbach in the middle of October 2016.
That’s why the arrival of German centre-back Marvin Compper at Celtic has caused consternation. At 32, he is hardly ancient. He also played a lot of football in the Bundesliga last season.
However, he has hardly been involved at RB Leipzig during this term and is ineligible for Celtic’s upcoming Europa League tie with Zenit St Petersburg. His signing does not fit with the understood strategy — so he had better be ready to feel the burn of the spotlight. For all its negatives, Scottish football is tough. It is physical. Players must be prepared to come here and get stuck in if they are to survive and thrive. It is no place in which to rest on past glories. Sure, it stopped being a place to watch really good players at their peak some time ago. That it is not to say it is without worth, though. Far from it.
Much of the pleasure is now to be found in seeing talented players on the rise. Don’t say it wasn’t satisfying to watch van Dijk play beside former Queen’s Park kid Andrew Robertson in Friday night’s Merseyside derby.
Let’s not forget James McCarthy, the Hamilton Accies product with his own £13m transfer under his belt, was in the Everton line-up.
Celtic’s Kieran Tierney looks another academy product destined for greater things. Harry Cochrane is a shining light within a Hearts set-up placing so much focus on youth. Hibs will surely soon turn a profit on John McGinn.
Naturally, as you go further down the Premiership and budgets become tighter, it becomes harder to tell clubs to stick to a defined transfer policy.
Motherwell, however, brought in Louis Moult for buttons and received decent cash in addition to moulding a darned good player.
Marvin Johnson and Ben Heneghan also helped boost their coffers.
Hard as it may seem, developing players and making money from them is the future here.
This is no country for old men. At least not those bringing little to the party other than their reputations. It must be built on more sustainable grounds.