It’s squeaky bum time... For Lennon. For Gerrard. For our national game
Results on the pitch in crunch Europa League play-offs and crucial Hampden talks off it all add up to a monumental week
IT’S a bit early in the season for this, the week of weeks.
But here we are regardless so Scottish football has no other option but to buckle up, hope for the best and see what state it’s in when we all get through to the other side.
For starters there’s a transfer window that needs to be pulled shut and what goes on in the market between now and next Monday night could well have a material impact on the outcome of a domestic title fight of historic significance.
If that’s not enough to have Neil Lennon and Steven Gerrard reaching for a stiff drink, on Thursday night the two managers must also face monumental play-off matches which will determine if there’s a place for them in the group stage of this season’s Europa League.
At a time when money can seldom have been tighter, there will be a lot more than just their managerial reputations on the line. As if they did not have enough to be getting on with, now they must shoulder the added responsibility of trying to pull a financial rabbit out of the hat at a time of unprecedented crisis.
If, for example, the cost of failing to deliver a fist full of UEFA’s euros had to be offset by the late sale of an Odsonne Edouard or a Ryan Kent, then it could have a game-changing effect on their respective chances of winning a league championship neither man can afford to lose. But let’s get back to all that later. First and foremost, there is something of even greater importance to the survival of football in this country as we know it and none of it will be played out anywhere near an actual pitch.
Over the next few days top-level talks between Holyrood and Westminster could determine whether or not the SPFL can be rescued by Boris’ Barnett and the potential consequentials of those conversations are impossible to overstate.
There was an initial hope on Hampden’s sixth floor as much as £50million of government cash could arrive over the border if the Department for Culture, Media and Sport does agree to put its hand in its pocket to help sport across England survive without supporters for the foreseeable future.
The financial formula means around 10 per cent of any proposed bailout south of the border would then have to be drip fed to Scotland.
But, although crisis talks have been ongoing since last week after the Prime Minister first announced stadia may have to remain shut until April 2021, the situation remains foggy at best.
And while the very thought of the tax payer handing over millions of pounds in financial aid to Sheikh Mansour and Roman Abramovich is absurd enough to turn the stomach, there is a real chance some money will be found for England’s National League and also for women‘s football.
Such a deal could throw our own national game a lifeline and there is also reason to hope the outcome of paralleled discussions between Downing Street and England’s Premier League may also unlock another door, in more ways than one.
If, as has been proposed, top-flight clubs club together, write a cheque for £250m and hand it to the EFL then they will demand something in return from the politicians. That something will almost certainly be permission to unlock the padlocks on their turnstiles sooner rather than later.
And if the EPL is allowed to open up its grounds to limited numbers of socially-distanced fans it stands to reason Scotland’s clubs could make the same demand of their government.
Either way, the coming days could provide the game in this country with a financial rescue package or permission to unlock match-day revenue. One or the other will do.
If, on the other hand, they are given neither we’ll be facing a meltdown of such scale that it’s impossible to see how Scottish football can make it safely out the other side.
If there’s ever been a squeaky bum moment in the history of our national sport then this may well be it.
And it is against this chaotic backdrop of out and out panic that Lennon and Gerrard must attempt to stay calm and focused on what they are attempting to achieve, with Celtic facing an awkward trip to face Sarajevo on Thursday night and Rangers preparing for a visit from the Turkish big guns of Galatasaray.
Lennon will have been a relieved man yesterday to see his team up its performance level in a three-goal win over Hibs. Celtic will place themselves at great risk against the Bosnians should they function as poorly as they did in Latvia last week.
Lennon also has an issue he needs to resolve with Edouard who once again was too tired to take his place in the starting X1 yesterday. The
Frenchman did play a part but only after Albian Ajeti had tweaked a hamstring in the act of scoring his fifth goal for the club and slotting his side into a 2-0 lead.
If anything, the Swiss striker’s injury makes getting to the bottom of what’s causing Edouard’s mood swings all the more urgent.
One way or another a big decision is going to have to be made, either by the player, the manager or perhaps by a chief executive who has spent the last six months watching Celtic’s bank balance burning to the ground.
Across the Clyde – despite a 5-1 win at Motherwell yesterday – Gerrard too will have much on his mind. At times it’s felt as Rangers have somehow been financially levitating their way through this pandemic but they can’t be immune to the consequences.
Getting pa s t Galatasaray might help ease some strain but that’s an almighty task in itself. Gerrard must laugh when he hears some say the Turks are not the force they once were.
He’ll need all his star men to turn up if he’s to lead them into the group stage for a third season on the bounce. But he’ll need them all just as much after next Monday night. There is quite some week ahead.
If the EPL is allowed to open up its grounds ... Scotland’s clubs could make same demand