Stokes proves player power rules

The transfer window closed today with the most intriguing switch of the summer, as Antony Stokes moved from Hibs to Celtic.

A straightforward deal on the face of it - another coveted player moves to the Old Firm - but there's more to this than meets the eye, and the clue is in the transfer fee, rumoured to be around £800,000.

£800k? For a player who scored 23 goals last term, and has two years remaining on his contract? Hibs sold Steven Fletcher to Burnley a year ago for £3.5m, and he never scored 23 goals in a season.

The days of Hibs being pressured into selling a player for a cut-down fee have long gone, and yet Celtic appear to have got a bargain. Gary Hooper suddenly looks rather overpriced compared to Stokes.

So what's going on?

Hibs have a recent history of getting their business done early in the summer - Scott Brown (to Celtic), Steven Fletcher and Rob Jones were all sold with lots of time left to bring in replacements. So maybe the club are a little short of money, or at least cash flow. With the new East Stand built this summer, Hibs probably banked on selling either Sol Bamba or Merouane Zemmama to balance the books.

But Bamba didn't play in the World Cup, although he was part of the Ivory Coast squad, so missed the opportunity to put himself in the shop window, while Zemmama is recovering from a serious knee injury so hardly attractive to potential buyers. Maybe the Stokes deal was the only one possible?

Or maybe Hibs wanted rid of Stokes. He's a player with baggage, who got dropped into the reserves by Roy Keane at Sunderland for his unprofessional behaviour. He managed to turn up for every game at Hibs last season, but rumours that he likes a flutter and a party remain.

But maybe the truth is that Antony Stokes was always in control of his destiny, whatever Hibs wanted. It was a massive coup for the club to sign him last summer, despite his baggage - he was a graduate of the Arsenal academy, after all, who signed for Sunderland for £2m. Hibs got him on a free, and on a massive cut in wages as well.

In his assured first press conference at Celtic, Stokes paid tribute to Hibs and manager John Hughes for helping him rebuild his career, but there was also conviction that he was now back in control of his future. Was there a clause in his contract that compelled Hibs to sell at a certain price?

We'll probably never know the full details. Hibs can justifiably claim this was a good piece of business, getting a proven striker for a year and then selling him on at a profit.

Who knows if Stokes will prove a success at Celtic. Denied a certain starting place, he might not enjoy the loss of status within the dressing room, and return to his bad old ways.

What is clear, though, is that Hibs are weaker tonight, and another player has journeyed along the M8 to join the Old Firm.

Europa disaster!

We've said it before and we'll say it again, no doubt - when the stakes are high, rookie gaffer Neil Lennon plays it all wrong.

2-0 up from the first leg, many were treating Celtic's progress into the Europa League as a given - and it probably should have been. But yet again their diabolical away form came back to haunt them, they conceded four goals to Utrecht and now they are out.

To be fair to him, Celtic had lots of defenders unavailable through injury - but that have made protecting a makeshift back four a priority. Instead Lennon picked a front two of Samaras and Fortune, plus new "wonderkid" James Forrest, plus Joe Ledley (who's not known for putting in a shift)... reckless stuff, and they paid the price.

Motherwell couldn't score the 1-0 victory that would have put them through against Odense, and Dundee Utd came close but missed the chance to progress ahead of AEK.

Both clubs acquited themselves rather better tonight than the green giant from Glasgow, however.

Where do Celtic go from here?

Scottish football's got more than an image problem

So Neil Lennon thinks that Celtic's failure to sign a big name player this summer is due to English perceptions of our game.

As always, it's a neat way of deflecting attention away from other issues, such as Celtic's failure to get into the Champions League. By falling at the first hurdle once again, the club has denied itself a huge chunk of income, and the glamour of competing with the biggest names in Europe.

Scottish football is in a woeful state at the moment, and yet hopes are receding that anything fundamental might be done about it.

Henry McLeish's 1st report into the game - launched earlier this year - has been hardly mentioned since, derided by the media and "football" people for recommending that money be spent on facilities and infrastucture to improve the game at the grassroots.

C'mon Henry! Asking for money? In these straightened times?!

It was a clear a case of shooting the messenger as you'll see - the McLeish recommendations may not have been spot on, but at least let's have a debate about them, rather than brush the issue under the carpet.

Lennon himself dismissed the need for more facilities for kids, saying that when he was a bairn he simply got a ball and played with his mates in the street.

Yes, and that's exactly the point, isn't it? For many reasons that we can argue about forever -paedo paranoia, traffic, video games - kids aren't just playing in the street anymore... and because so many playing fields have been sold off and community sports facilities are lacking, that means they aren't playing full stop.

Instead, having been frustrated with their first choices, Celtic have spent a fair bit of money anyhow, and Lennon claims he'll have all of the £9.5m windfall from Aiden McGeady's transfer to play with too.

Is this really the best thing to do?

Celtic are caught in a death match with Rangers, breaking the bank in order to win a title that no one really cares about, managed by a man who is surely going to come unstuck sooner rather than later.

Here's a thought... why doesn't Celtic sponsor sports facilities in Scotland instead?

Every week, towns across Scotland are populated by locals wearing replica OF jerseys rather than that of their home town team. This isn't a trend likely to go away anytime soon.

So why doesn't Celtic put something back and sponsor sports facilities in these supporter towns? It would help the club cement relationships with these fans... and maybe help counter some animosity towards them as well.

In other words - it would still be commercially driven and entirely in Celtic's interest... but it would also help put something back into the community as well, and perhaps start to turn this country's footballing fortunes around.

We're back!

After an interminable wait, Scottish football is back!

The fans are warming up the vuvuzelas as the new season fast approaches. Fair enough, Motherwell have already started, with victory over Breidablik in the previous qualifying round of the Europa League, but frankly it’s best to treat these ties as pre-season games anyhow, given Scottish club’s miserable record in these games in recent seasons.

And hasn’t Neil Lennon started the new season well? With a mere 3-0 defeat to Braga in his first competitive game in charge as “permanent” manager, he’s proving himself to be much better than Gordon Strachan, who got thumped 5 zip by Artmedia in his first game.

Aiden McGeady didn’t play, but purely because he was injured, and anyhow – as Lenny said – the referee was at fault for the defeat.

A season of glory awaits!

Good bye Neil Lennon

Well, the man who wants the Celtic job has ensured that the club won't win a trophy this season, after being beaten 2-0 by Ross County in the Scottish Cup semi final.

Apart from saying how much he wanted to stay in post, Neil Lennon also found time in the build-up to the game to say that he was asking Robbie Keane to consider extending his stay past the end of the season. Which perhaps gives an explanation as to why Celtic weren't firing on all cylinders at Hampden - insufficient focus on the game in hand.

Still, Hibs' John Hughes must feel vindicated, as Ross County have proved that they aren't a bad side at all. Well, he would do, if Hibs hadn't been gubbed 4-1 by Hamilton at the weekend, which makes you wonder - can anyone get the Hibees to turn into a consistent team?

Incidentally, Celtic's last league match was at Easter Road, and though records show that Robbie Keane won the game with the only goal, he was in fact pretty useless all match (the goal was a penalty, by the way).

Just a thought, but perhaps Celtic would be better off ignoring the "box office", and employing a squad of lower-profile grafters who are committed to the club?

Little more than a year ago, Celtic looked unassailable, with Rangers in meltdown and a decent if unspectacular team. Two managers on, they are a mess - and management failings at the very top should take the blame.

Walter Smith, cruising to his second SPL title in a row and now not having to worry about the neighbours having a grand day out at Hampden in May, must be chuckling into his boots.

Mowbray loses job he never understood

When we posted yesterday about this lacklustre Scottish football season, it was assuming there were few surprises left to maintain interest this season.

But St Mirren thumping Celtic 4-0 is one of the biggest surprises you could hope for. Especially when the Buddies were supposedly licking their wounds after blowing a great chance to win the League Cup, while Celtic were supposedly in fighting form.

St Mirren were slick and incisive last night, but the best footage came from off the field. Tony Mowbray held his head in his hands, while Sellick chief Peter Lawwell thought about which plate he'd use to serve the gaffer's head on.

So that's it - the inventor of the Celtic huddle and man to bring expansive, attacking football back to Parkhead is gone, along with his backroom team, with Neil Lennon appointed caretaker.

The fresh, enthusiastic young coach who had got his first management job at Hibs had never returned to Scotland. Instead, the Tony Mowbray who came back to Celtic was surly and defensive in public, and seemed to lack authority.

His final comments as Celtic manager were as mealy-mouthed as many of his press conferences: "Maybe it isn't a league for trying to force the game and being expansive - maybe it's a league for playing defensive, negative football, and having the quality upfront to counter-attack."

Hmm, Tony. Maybe, if one of your players earns more than your opponent's entire squad, then the onus is on you to try and break them down. And maybe, just maybe, good managers rebuild their team while still getting results on the field, rather than rip up the entire backline mid-season and then wonder why you are leaking goals.

Walter Smith - a man with his own problems - has made Mowbray look like a rookie this season, not a man with two previous jobs in his cv and a supposedly strong conviction about how the game should be played.

Ultimately, Mowbray looked out of his depth, unable to handle the expectations that go with the job.

Hopes rest on Ross County

Not been a vintage season, has it?

It started with Livingston's demotion to Division Three, and the usual rank rotten contributions by Scottish clubs in Europe. And now, for many fans, it's over before the end of March.

The SPL title race has been run, and only protocol prevents the handing of the trophy to Rangers now. Discounting the Scottish Cup, the Old Firm have little left to play for this season.

Hibs' season finished last night, when they were dumped out of that competition by Ross County. It's amazing to think that in late January, with Sol Bamba returning from the African Cup of Nations, many commentators were suggesting Hibs could finish above Celtic in the league and maybe - just maybe - end their 108 year hurt in the Cup.

Instead, after making hard work of the easiest possible draw all the way through, they are licking their wounds again, and wondering where the next win might come from. Hibs' traditional post-New Year slump has been more brutal than usual this year.

Dundee Utd and Motherwell may well be duking it out from 3rd spot til the last game of the season, but given our nation's woeful record in Europe, will it really matter?

And Hearts, having all but secured the top six and won a derby, will probably consider their business done for the season. They've nothing else to play for.

Falkirk, meanwhile, ain't dead and buried yet, but they still look odds-on for relegation. Unless they actually haul themselves off the bottom of the table, we'll struggle to get interested in this one too.

So well done to Ross County. Their victory over Hibs in the Scottish Cup has been described as the biggest result in the club's history, and was celebrated with a proper old-fashioned pitch invasion. Their prize is a semi-final against Celtic at Hampden.

Please, oh please, let them win that one as well.

Lost in Sectarianism

And so to one of our irregular features on We Love Fitba, which we'll call Lost in Sectarianism in a nod to the Marina Hyde blog in the Guardian.

It's Sunday, and we're at Ibrox, for the third Old Firm match of the season, one that Celtic had to win to maintain any hope of winning the title. But it was off the field where the other battle for (moral) superiority in Glasgow was waged.

Here's the developments so far, but don't feel guilty if you feel like nodding off at any point. Falling asleep with boredom is far preferable to contemplating the depressing reality of Old Firm sectarian hand-wringing in the 21st century.

Rangers elected to begin the afternoon's proceedings with a minute's silence for Gerry Neef. Gerry who? you might say, but obscurity is no barrier to sanctimony these days, especially if your next game is against your hated rivals and you'd just love an opportunity to try and show them up.

Truth be told, if you found 10 Rangers fans who claimed detailed knowledge of Gerry Neef's career at the club, at least nine of them would be lying (he made a total of 48 appearances in the late 60s / early 70s). Nontheless, they all now demanded a minute's silence so that they could pay their respects to a man most had never heard of.

As it happens, the silence was fairly well observed, even though it was reported as "disrupted" in most media reports. Whether it was really disrupted by a handful of Celtic morons, or a larger mob of Rangers fans just itching to shout "scummy bastards!" as soon as they heard a pin drop, is open to debate.

But this episode was just the warm-up to the afternoon's main show piece. Rangers Community Foundation had chosen this match as the ideal event to honour Falkland's vet Simon Weston, who'd given a talk to the Foundation the day before.

Hmm, the Falkland Islands? Haven't they been in the news recently? Surely Rangers wouldn't co-opt one man's terrible injuries and inspirational recovery to make a political point? Are we really that cynical these days?

Sure enough, as Simon Weston was presented with his royal blue shirt at half time, the cameras scanned the Celtic enclosure, seeking any sign of disrespect. The headline just waiting for a story? Rangers support Our Boys. Fenian "scummy bastards" don't.

They found a Celtic fan waving an Argentina shirt around, Scotland's second favourite strip since 1986. This, it was deemed by the Sun, was enough to run the story about how a "twisted Celtic fan" taunted a war hero.

Spurred on by faux outrage, there's now a facebook page where you can register your own disgust at his behaviour, and help to track the offending tim down.

Of course, it is almost too easy to point out that cheap finger-pointing like this is all the more embarassing when it involves a man who met and befriended the Argentinian pilot who dropped the bomb that injured him so badly.

In other words, Simon Weston demonstrates forgiveness and understanding, and a mature world view that our two bigot brothers could barely comprehend, let alone emulate. If Rangers wanted to "honour" this man, maybe trying to build bridges with their neighbour, rather than perpetually wind them up, might be more appropriate?

It might also be stated that - at a time when the prospective next Foreign Secretary of the UK has recently tried to reprise the jingoistic fervour of the Falklands conflict - there has never been a better time to dig out our Argentina shirts and show that we, as a people, have moved on.

But no, Rangers have been declared winners in this round, so we must direct our anger as appropriate. Exploiting charitably-minded war heroes for cheap stunts is fine. Holding a national shirt of another country should be a criminal offence.

Rangers win the SPL

Well, it's all over now, isn't it? Rangers won the Old Firm derby yesterday and are now 10 points clear - there's no way Celtic are coming back from there.

Tony Mowbray could point out that the match was very even, that maybe a few decisions went against them (fuelling the current sense of injustice at Celtic) - and he'd be right.

But then everyone else could point out that truly clever managers find a way to keep getting results while changing their team. Instead, Celtic have dropped far too many points while Mowbray has tried to get to grips with the job. Walter Smith - a man with his own problems to deal with - has basically mugged him this season.

It means the title race has basically been decided before the split, not what the SPL needs to maintain interest in the rest of the season.

Any consolations? Well, we probably already know the make-up of the top six (Aberdeen look out of it) and Dundee Utd, Hibs, Hearts and Motherwell could yet give us some twists and turns in the battle for two qualifying spots in the Europa League.

And maybe, just maybe, Falkirk will pick themselves up and make a real fight of staying in the Division.

How's Robbie Keane settling in?

He scored his first goal in Scottish football at the weekend, but it was a penalty and he's still drawing a blank in the league. He got plenty of chances last night against Hearts, but couldn't put one away.

There's two ways of looking at this.

Plenty of rival fans are taking great joy in the fact that the £65 grand a week man can't get going in the SPL. And fair enough, too.

But it has to be said that Hearts keeper Marian Kello played a blinder, and on another night Keane could have got a hat trick. More often than not, his team mates gave him the ball, and you get the sense they are a little starstruck by him. At the same time, Keane needs to develop an understanding with them, and realise when there might be another option rather than just taking a shot.

He still looks dangerous, mind, and will no doubt get going soon. He's certainly a dangerous prospect in the SPL.

Whether he's worth the money, of course, is another subject altogether.

The script goes wrong

Chief Executive Peter Lawwell likes to talk about "telling the Celtic story", and in his head tonight would have seen the triumphant debut of his expensive new No.7, Robbie Keane. Went a bit wrong, though, didn't it?

Instead Jimmy Calderwood got his first win as Kilmarnock boss, thanks to a goal from another debutant, Chris Maguire, in his first match on loan from Aberdeen. With Falkirk also beating Aberdeen tonight, it was a vital win to keep Killie away from the bottom of the table.

Of course, Henrik Larrson's first match for the Hoops ended in a 2-1 defeat to Hibs, so maybe the omens for the new man are pretty good after all. But one thing is clear - Keane might not have been Tony Mowbray's signing, but making the team work with him in it is his problem. If Celtic don't start chipping away at Rangers' 10 point lead soon, the manager could be on his way out.

As We Love Fitba have said before, plenty of Celtic's longer-standing fans are still pretty pleased with Mowbray, and can see the rebuilding job he is attempting to do. But the best managers rebuild squads while still winning on the park (insert obligatory Alex Ferguson reference).

As it is, the "give him time" punters are being drowned out by the impatient "get tae fuck" merchants.

-

In the other big match tonight, St Mirren beat Hearts 1-0 in the CIS League Cup Semi Final, thus ruining Jim Jefferies' return to the Jambos. As St Mirren beat Killie earlier in the competition, this means that Jumbo's been knocked out of the competition by the same club twice in one season - that is bad luck!

Robbie Keane the latest Celtic headline-grabber

After Martin O'Neill decided to leave Celtic, after a heady period of trophy-grabbing, the club decided to change its strategy.

Instead of a squad of solid pros on hefty wages, any new manager would need to build a squad of cheaper players to drive wage costs down - with the occasional marquee signing thrown in who could enthuse the fans and help the club market itself in new ways.

So Roy Keane joined his boyhood heroes after losing the plot at Man Utd, and Gordon Strachan also had to fit Shunsuke Nakamura into the team to help the Japanese merchandise sales.

Now Ki Sung Yueng has come from FC Seoul to do the East Asian thing, and now the big news - Robbie Keane has arrived on loan for the rest of the season.

A quality player, of course, but his wage demands (rumoured to be £65,000 a week) make an absolute mockery of Celtic's wage structure.

He hasn't just been signed for his footballing ability, then, but to get the supporters back through the gates (Parkhead had at least 20,000 empty seats when Hibs visited last week) and get some more shirts sold - maybe even those hideous bumble bee away strips.

The weirdest thing about it is that, with Celtic bundled out of Europe, Keane will be playing on a solely domestic stage. Can they close that 10 point gap to Rangers? It's possible, but by no means certain. But you can bet that more people will be watching.

Full transfer round up here.

Mowbray feels the heat

Up against the wily old campaigner Walter Smith, Tony Mowbray is being made to look a bit of a mug in his first season as an Old Firm manager.

He's admitted he doesn't enjoy the job, and now last night's defeat to Hibs has left Celtic 10 points behind Rangers in the title race. They have a game in hand, but boy do they need it.

Predictably enough, the armchair Tims were furious about the result, with "this is worse than John Barnes" being the chosen phrase to text in to whatever radio show might be interested. Expect the Glasgow rags to pick up the "Celtic in crisis" theme as they bay for some blood to be spilled.

More intelligent supporters - for example, the ones who actually go to games and pay attention to what goes on - are backing Mowbray for now. They know that Celtic would have won last night if Samaras had taken one of his chances, that Mowbray is trying to rebuild central defence half way through a season (a bold but risky move) and that the team is much more creative than a year ago.

Credit to Mowbray, he took the result on the chin, and didn't try the fanciful claim that Celtic were robbed. Yes, Hibs were under the cosh for much of the match, but they weathered the storm and deserved their win.

Mowbray has warned about "destabilising elements" that surround the club, but will be hoping to further remodel his squad before the transfer window shuts, if he can find buyers for Danny Fox and Stephen McManus.

He seems determined to carry on with the job, despite the pressure.

Derby draws

Sunday saw the Old Firm and the two Edinburgh clubs square up for their New Year derbies - and in the end, both matches finished all square. It was a missed opportunity for the green halves of both cities.

At least Celtic played well. Tony Mowbray has been asking for patience from the supporters for months, as he gets his team to play the way he wants them to, and yesterday Celtic looked like a cohesive team. With better finishing, they would have buried Rangers - even Walter Smith conceded that his side were lucky to earn a draw.

Mowbray has also been dropping heavy hints that players will move on this month - but unlike Smith, he will have money to reinvest in his squad. The Rangers boss is hoping no bids come in, because he can't be sure that the bank will let him spend any of the proceeds. January could be a pivotal month for the SPL title race.

It's a race that Hibs won't be involved in. Getting a draw in the first Edinburgh Derby of the season at Tynecastle was a creditable result, but at home they really should have imposed themselves more on the game. As it was, a poor first half ended with a goal for Hearts. Hibs then equalised early in the second half, but couldn't get another.

In other respects, it was a fiery encounter, with Darren McCormack and Ruben Palazuelos sent off for head-butting eachother, robust tackles aplenty, and a smoke canister thrown from the Hearts support as well. All good stuff, but sadly there was little quality football.

Still, Hibs remain fairly comfortable in third, a good place to be going into the second half of the season. Hearts have surged up the table in recent weeks, but with the usual off-the-field chaos don't expect it to last.

SPL proves a draw

Six games over the weekend, and three of them finished all square.

The most anticipated, but ultimately most disappointing, was the Edinburgh derby on Saturday lunchtime. Both clubs will be reasonably happy with the 0-0 draw though - Hearts because they didn't get beat, and Hibs because they were missing a few players and clearly went to Tynecastle with containment in mind.

A disappointingly low crowd at the Lanarkshire derby, but a much more interesting match. Again, both sides should be happy - Hamilton because after going down to 10 men and conceding a penalty in the first half, a point has to be a decent result, and Motherwell because they fought back to draw the game late on.

Watch out for Billy Reid attacking his own dug out after their second goal as well - hilarious stuff.

Finally to Falkirk, where after a little Remembrance Day controversy involving some Celtic fans (what a shock eh?), an amazing 3-3 draw took place, with all the goals coming in the second half. All credit to the Bairns - down in last place in the table, they took the game to the leaders with some exciting attacking football.

Tony Mowbray can't be sleeping well at the moment, though.

All highlights on the BBC website, as always.

Celtic 0 - 1 Hearts

So much to talk about following Celtc's defeat to ha-ha-Hearts in the CIS League Cup last night, but let's ignore the Old Firm angle for a moment - they've had plenty coverage, no? - and think about Hearts for a moment.

In the build-up to the game, manager Csaba Laszlo gave a frankly hilarious press conference in which he expressed his anger at the current situation at the club, beset by problems and lacking a clear structure.

Hardly helping to bring clarity to the situation, owner Vladimir Romanov jetted into Edinburgh ahead of the match, and apparently introduced the club's new sporting director to the players, but not the manager. All nice and straightforward, then.

And so to the game, which Hearts won after Christian Nade - a player who admitted this week to personal problems affecting his game, but didn't elaborate on them - was brought down in the box, and Michael Stewart - who was booed by his own fans in Hearts' last game against Falkirk - converted the penalty. Unsurprisingly, he passed up the opportunity to celebrate with the Jambo support.

Celtic were unlucky last night, but that didn't prevent the 18,000 or so that turned up from venting their fury at Tony Mowbray at the final whistle. Georgie Samaras once again showed that he is far from a lethal finisher, while captain McManus committed probably the most cynical and reckless tackle you'll see all season. If you haven't already seen it, you really should - it's a shocker.

Is Mowbray's job on the line, just 3 months into the season? The board won't pull the trigger yet, but the faithful are getting madder and madder and things might come to a head if the results don't improve soon.

Scottish football's pretty exciting at the moment. Who'd want to leave it?

Celtic rue defensive mistakes

You get the impression that Tony Mowbray is not enjoying life at Celtic as much as he hoped. Instead of a team gelling under fresh leadership, Celtic seem to get rattled more and more easily as the weeks go by. This has not been a dream start for the ex-West Brom and Hibs manager.

Of course, the aftermath of an Old Firm derby defeat is always depressing for the losing party, but Mowbray - who normally defends his players in public - was uncharacteristically scathing about them after the match. He didn't mention him by name, but he was clearly seething at Glenn Loovens' performance, especially for letting the ball bounce in the area for Kenny Miller's second goal.

Sunday's first Old Firm meeting of the season exposed Celtic's problems at both ends of the park. Defensively they were a shambles, while upfront they failed to make an impact, despite enjoying lots of possession and facing a patched-up Rangers back line.

With all due credit to Rangers (and Kenny Miller, who once again excelled in this fixture), Celtic really failed to put their stamp on this game. Yes, Shaun Maloney was denied at least one clear penalty, but that doesn't excuse their myriad failings.

Of course, Celtic are also experiencing difficulties in Europe. Getting into the Champions League would always have been a tall order, especially once Celtic were drawn against Arsenal in their second qualifying tie. But the Europa League should be a rather more comfortable environment - instead, Celtic are struggling with just a point from their first two games.

The Celtic board gave Mowbray £4m to sign Marc Fortune over the summer, and N'Guemo has been a fine addition in midfield (albeit on loan), but was that enough? He was willing to listen to offers for Stephen McManus, and probably wanted to reshape the squad more than he was able to.

With their rivals in such dissarray, now would seem an ideal time for Celtic to invest in building a team that could really achieve something under the new management team. Yet again, by not spending money, Celtic seem determined to let Rangers off the hook. They have only themselves to blame.

Winners and losers so far in the SPL

So... the transfer window has shut, we're three games in... who's hot and who's not in the SPL this term?

Looking Good...

Rangers have avoided any more departures, and that's a good thing for them. The income from the Champions League (they don't have to share any of it with Celtic now) will help with the cash flow at least, and the arrival of Jerome Rothen on loan from PSG adds experience and guile for those ties too.

Given that they are not even offering new contracts to anyone currently on the payroll (Kris Boyd is now in his final year), don't expect much business in January either, unless they sell first. They remain dependent on a few key players staying fit - otherwise, that title looks very vulnerable. For now, though, the Champions have made an impressive start.

A year ago, Derek Riordan returned to Hibs from Celtic for a rumoured £400,000 (big money these days for a non-OF outfit), and the Edinburgh club's chief executive described the deal as a "statement of intent". This summer, they've invested a similar sum in Anthony Stokes. Hibs now have lots of options up front and John Hughes has done some fairly radical reshaping of the rest of the squad, with Liam Miller the latest to join. It might take time to gel, but Hibs are looking promising.

So are the Arabs, with Craig Levein again pulling a rabbit out of the hat with Danny Cadamateri. Who knows how, but the well-travelled and wayward striker has hit the ground running. Dundee Utd have started well and still have a number of injured players to come back into the team. These two clubs are surely favourites for third place.

Motherwell will be pretty happy with a top six finish, but that looks on the cards following a decent start. Jim Gannon is living up to his reputation, and he's been given some money to bring in much needed strength in depth.

St. Johnstone, meanwhile, managed well-earned draws against Motherwell and Hearts, but got thumped by Celtic. That's a tough start for a promoted team, even if Hearts aren't anywhere near as good as they'd like to be, so probably a job well done. And they are scoring goals, which is crucial for the confidence.

Steady as she goes...

Neither wonderful nor woeful, St Mirren and Kilmarnock have both made respectable starts, and have legitimate reasons for optimism. As both clubs are vulnerable to being dragged into a relegation scrap, any early points are a bonus.

Early signs of shakiness...

After being dumped out of the Champions League, there were rumours that a few Celtic players might be on their way, but in the end they've all stayed. Things should be pretty peachy at Parkhead, yet somehow problems seem to be surfacing early in Tony Mowbray's tenure. The bad natured and narrow win at Hibs looked ugly, with Mowbray first orchestrating a "huddle" at the end of the game and then refusing to accept that McGeady dived (he did, and everyone knows it). A siege mentality at the end of August - is that really healthy?

Still, at least they are winning games, which is more than can be said for Hearts. Manager Csaba Laszlo has been spilling the beans about his difficult relationship with Vladimir, and we all know that Mr Romanov does not tolerate insubordination. Is his employee asking to get sacked? Hearts had a woeful summer, the new signings (much hyped by some supporters) have looked substandard so far, and Larry Kingston is stirring the pot, too. Oh dear.

Things aren't much happier at Aberdeen, where the manager also seems content to moan about his squad in public. Best get your excuses in now, Mark McGhee, because those fans who were so excited about your arrival in the summer might just be having second thoughts.

And so to Hamilton and Falkirk. Both managers were sounding very optimistic during the summer, but that optimism has looked seriously misplaced so far. Falkirk have, at least, held on to Darren Barr and Scott Arfield, two vital players. They are going to need them, while Hamilton look well short of the required standard.

Arsenal boss the 1st leg

So, that went pretty much as expected. Celtic needed a massive performance to get some change out of Arsenal tonight, and Tony Mowbray's optimism was once again unable to get the better of the London club. Gary Caldwell's had a really bad seven days, hasn't he?

Let's hope the representatives of Celtic show some class, though, and pass up the opportunity to bleat about their lack of wealth. Of course they've got less money than Arsenal!

Arsenal are not only amongst the elite in the wealthiest league in the world, they are also a North London money-making machine. Rebranded "Celtic Park" might be a decent stadium, but its East Glasgow location means a much less wealthy local support base.

Rather than see themselves as a poor relation, Celtic and Rangers could see their proximity to the globally-marketed Premier League as an opportunity - and work out how Scottish football could exploit this more fully.

Or maybe this would take more maturity and professionalism than currently exists in Scottish football right now?

Fortune favours the brave

After a depressing summer, ending with a disaster of a match against Norway which ended any realistic hope of Scotland appearing in next year's World Cup, the opening weekend of the SPL at least provided lots of goals and excitement.

Of course, the first round of the season is always exciting - the sun's shining, the terraces are busy, and everyone is full of optimism. We all know that the pitches and the players will look a lot less lively in January. But it was still fun to forget all the problems and revel in Scotland's top domestic competition.

Strikers were given the limelight - the rejuvenated Danny Cadamateri at Tannadice, the returning Benji at Easter Road, and of course the biggest signing of the summer, Marc-Antoine Fortune at Celtic.

As Pat Nevin pointed out in Sportscene, Fortune has been playing more like a winger than a centre forward so far for Celtic - but this may well be the secret weapon Tony Mowbray plans to use against Arsenal tonight. With Fortune buzzing betweeen the touch lines, it gives Aiden McGeady and others the chance to go narrow and lose their marker. Still, it will be very hard for Celtic to get through this tie.

The other European tie this week involves Hearts against Dinamo Zagreb. Having played on Monday night, and due to play Rangers on Sunday, the fixture list is certainly not doing the Jambos any favours.