Stage in Euro clash

Shopping local or further afield? Why Celtic’s new role could be...

Morelos got an early taste of the treatment he was going to receive when David Zima barged him over on the halfway line early on. He was visibly upset that Romanian match official Ovidiu Hategan failed to take action. But he kept his cool.

He showed good striker’s instincts when Zima played a slack pass to Ondrej Kolar and was unlucky not to cancel out Nicolae Stanciu’s early opener. But he was involved in the equaliser. He was brought down by that man Zima again in the middle of the home team’s half and won his side a free-kick. Borna Barisic whipped a delivery in, Connor Goldson got on the end of it, Ianis Hagi cut it back and

Filip Helander tapped in.

The leveller came against the run of play. But it seemed to lift the Premiership winners. They were far better after half-time and could have taken the lead if they had converted one of the opportunities they created. Connor Goldson, Joe Aribo and Ryan Kent were all found wanting. If the ball had fallen to Morelos it may have been a different story.

Yet, Alfredo Morelos’s experience in Europe still made a difference. When Zima scythed him down in the second half he picked up a booking from Hategan which will rule him out of the return leg in Govan. That could be crucial.

But so, of course, could the man who leads the line for the home team. He has, as was evident again last night, grown into an outstanding performer in the Europa League. His manager suspects it may be because he wants to put himself in the shop window. Clubs far and wide will certainly be queuing up to bid for him in the summer. It will take a sizeable fee to secure his services.

AH, but does he know Scottish football? A phrase heard often, and one which both elevates our game to a status so unique that no outsider could possibly succeed here, and demeans it by the same token.

It is a notion which assumes Scottish football too madcap, too demanding, too low on quality on the pitch for anyone born outside these borders to truly understand. It is also patently nonsense. But it is again being muttered with souldestroying frequency when discussing the runners and riders for the vacant Celtic managerial and director of football roles.

Let’s take Matteo Tognozzi, the Juventus head of scouting, who has stated this week that he would be interested in coming to Celtic for the second of those positions.

Tognozzi has a sporting director’s licence, obtained (with Honours) after going through an intensive Italian FA course, at the end of which he produced a meticulous 60page dissertation outlining his footballing philosophies.

The head of the Old Lady’s scouting network has extensive experience not only in his current role with the Turin giants, but across European football with the likes of Zenit St Petersburg and Bayer Leverkusen.

It was while in Russia and Germany that he operated under a transfer philosophy that relied on the early identification of talent, the cut-price acquisition of that talent, and the subsequent healthy return on that talent down the line for his clubs. Sound vaguely familiar to a strategy you may have heard of?

Not only that, but he operates now at a true behemoth of the European game, who consistently maintain their status among the top 10 clubs on the continent while boasting a budget dwarfed by competitors from England and Spain. A club where there is enormous pressure to win every single game.

Ah, but does he know Scottish football? Frankly, it doesn’t matter. The “Wha’s like us?” attitude which presumes the demands of the Old Firm or succeeding in Glasgow are unique is a fallacy.

Tognozzi has shown in the past that he is able to adapt to new cultures and new leagues, delving into his personal database to find players best suited to the particular demands of the country he finds himself in.

At Zenit, for example, he identified players with “personality and physical strength” who would be able to cope with the rigours involved in a gruelling Russian season. At Hamburg, under huge financial constraints, he identified players suited to the “fast and direct” style of the German game, so he has demonstrated his ability to adapt his model to his environment.

Former Celtic midfielder and assistant manager John Collins has thrown his hat into the ring for the position, and there is no doubt that he is bang up to speed with the inner workings of the club, and he possesses a wealth of experience as a player at the top level.

While he has declared that he ‘has the skillset’ for the director of football role though, his expansion on that point seemed to centre upon a criticism of Ross Wilson, who holds the director of football role at Rangers, for his lack of footballing ability.