In the quiet confidence and composure of young Arne Engels, Celtic fans can see real glimpses of a future worth believing in. For Glaswegians, the same old names arguing about the same old issues makes Rangers feel like a club stuck in the past.
And the brightest punters, capable of taking off their blue-tinted glasses and seeing life as it really is, must fear that this was the week when finally falling behind their richer and stronger rivals – hispanization, as some like to call it – really began to move from much-discussed theory to obvious truth.
Celtic’s 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava in their Champions League opener does not guarantee anything in itself. The Slovaks played as poorly as the Parkhead side did well. Brendan Rodgers and his team have much tougher tests ahead of them that will offer them a better chance to judge exactly where their summer re-signing has taken them.
Belgian midfielder Arne Engels has made an impressive start to his Celtic career
Engels scores from the penalty spot in a 5-1 Champions League win over Bratislava
Likewise, common sense would dictate that enthusiasm for the £11m signing of Engels is best tempered. Yet even after a handful of appearances, this lad looks like the one. He fits the profile of the player Celtic should have been signing for years rather than wasting time down the ranks to sign the likes of Gustaf Lagerbielke, Yuki Kobayashi and Oh Hyeon-gyu.
He is 21 years old and already appears to have the physique and technique to face a top-level competition. It is clear that he is adapting quickly to the Belgian team, which is being renewed after a disappointing European Championship, having made his debut as a last-minute substitute against Israel this month.
Even his off-field behaviour gives the impression that he is made for the top. When asked about the pressure of taking penalties after the game against Slovan, he smiled: “I am always calm. I am confident in myself.”
Before the match, puffing out his chest as he lined up to the Champions League song, his body language roared: “I’m here… and I belong here.”
In a country where players two years younger than him are still regarded as children and have generally had their personality beaten out of them by those in charge of his club’s press training (you know what I mean, “taking things game by game”, “being happy to be here”), it is refreshing to hear him say that he believes Celtic can beat anyone in Europe’s premier competition, even if they can’t.
This is what comes from growing up in a system and at clubs that have encouraged you to be yourself. Celtic have earned a prize by signing him. Keep him fit and healthy and he will become a star who will bring in huge profits.
But the thing is: he can’t become a one-and-done player. He has to be the norm at Parkhead now. Sure, bargains can be had at lower prices and it’s good to gamble a bit in the market. However, the chances of success (both on the park and in terms of making a profit from sales) increase significantly with higher initial outlays.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has received strong backing in the transfer market
They will also be boosted by creating a proper recruitment system. Rodgers admitted during the transfer window that Celtic needed to overhaul their operations in that department, and they must do so.
They have signed Engels with what they have at the moment, but it is not enough. There has to be a head of recruitment or a sporting director. Maybe both. Rodgers will also have to accept that he cannot have total control of the show.
But Celtic have deep pockets at the moment, with their main domestic rivals in crisis, and they cannot let this moment pass without putting the right structures and personnel in place for the long term, something they have failed to do in the recent past.
In Scottish football, committing £11m to a player is still a huge achievement, and signings of that calibre are not always guaranteed to pay off in terms of fundraising in the future.
Consider Christopher Jullien, who has paid £9m. However, if Celtic can break that barrier of selling talent for more than £30m and build a reputation for selling to genuine top clubs (something chairman Peter Lawwell spoke of frequently during his time as chief executive), then even the occasional failure at that price can be compensated for.
Unless Rangers find some rich daddy with a lot of money to hand, and that doesn’t seem to be on the cards, Celtic are in an almost impregnable position if they get their business right, rather than giving people jobs in the showers or recruiting people whose parents have been hanging around in prominent positions.
Yes, this is the last year with guaranteed Champions League money from an automatic place in the league phase (which is sure to top £40m for the Parkhead side this season), but the Champions Path continues through qualification and that should give them a great chance of staying in the top table going forward.
Contrast that with the current situation at Rangers: while Celtic fans are showering Engels with praise, Ibrox fans are burying their heads in the sand as former chairman Dave King babbles on from stage left again.
Honestly, does anyone have the stomach to endure months and months of this? It’s depressing. It’s just a sign that a club isn’t going anywhere. Apart from backwards, that is. To tired old faces and guys who’ve been through a lot before.
Former president Dave King wants to return to the Rangers’ front office
John Gilligan has returned to Rangers as interim chairman after John Bennett resigned
The king had his chance to take over the train. He got some things right, but many things wrong. Then he left. Internal warfare and orders to expel him back are the last things the place needs.
John Gilligan has returned as interim chairman following the resignation of John Bennett. No disrespect to Gilligan, as he has an impressive business track record, but he has been a director before.
The man charged with helping him, George Letham, has previously been a director. Graeme Park is also having a say, and the shadow of his father Douglas is still present.
All of these guys did their part when the Rangers needed them nearly a decade ago, but it seems like everything is going around in circles. Only now there is discord and no clear vision of where the Rangers are headed. Or where they are headed.
Rangers manager Philippe Clement has had limited resources to work with in the transfer market.
The squad is poor considering the money that has been spent on assembling it. There are few assets, probably none, that can command a transfer fee close to eight figures. The summer window showed that resources are limited.
There are vital positions in the club that remain unfilled. It is an organisation that reeks of stagnation.
Even coach Philippe Clement revealed just over a week ago, without much fanfare, that he “had to make the decision in the summer” to continue, although he knows that “the challenge is much greater than last season.”
Of course, he opted to stay. Had Domenico Tedesco become vacant as Belgium coach, as expected after the Euros, that decision might have been a little more difficult.
Aside from a new long-term contract, it is hard to know what prompted Clement to keep the faith. With his calls for unity likely to fall on deaf ears as the club’s main shareholder chirps from the sidelines, the past week will surely have made him question himself.
