'Now that the bank have taken over the running of the club' by Walter Smith

So who is running the second biggest institution in Scotland?

Rangers Chairman Alastair Johnston and manager Walter Smith can't both be right after today's revelations from Ibrox.

It's not often that I would delve into issues involving our city neighbours but some stories are just too big to ignore and whether we like it or not what happens at Rangers has an impact on Celtic.

After the 1-1 draw with Hibs today Smith seemed to let the cat out the bag by repeating in separate interviews that 'the banks are running Rangers

CLICK HERE to listen to Smith interview, 5 minutes in

"Now the bank have taken over the running of the club," Smith stated clearly on Radio Scotland. "They'll have their own ideas and obviously investment is not one of them so therefore we will sit and wait for an owner.

"There's a stagnation about our club at the present moment, if you don't buy a player for 18 months you get that. If that's effecting everybody that's the reason.

"The manager takes the responsibility for it all, I'm not ducking that responsibility, I have that and we'll be trying to make sure that our results are the proper ones while I'm still here."

That interview certainly sounded like Smith isn't expecting to be at Rangers in the medium term never mind the long term.

Who Rangers bring in and what they do and say sounds very similar to the period in the early nineties when trust with the Celtic board had collapsed and the issue of boardroom change was far more important that cliches surrounding team selections or transfer targets.

Smith is a far more powerful figure at Rangers than Liam Brady or Lou Macari ever were at Celtic which will make the aftermath of today's comments far more interesting.

Less than a month ago a new vision for Rangers was being portrayed by Chairman Johnston before he hurried back to the USA for a spot of networking to bring in some of his big-hitting contacts to take Rangers forward into a new era.

Johnston's performance was far from smooth or convincing, especially when he moved into the area of finances and the banks involvement.

Last week's appointment of two new Rangers directors, Donald Muir and Mick McGill, without Johnston's knowledge according to some, would appear to throw new light on the issue despite Johnston's soundbites.

On September 28 the new Rangers chairman said: "Given the fact that whilst the bank do not control the operation or the management of the club, it is no secret to the fact that we are, at this point in time, in a position of relying on external financing which is provided.

"We have a credit arrangement with the bank that has got various covenants in it, no surprise, to the extent that there are pre-determined covenants.

"We basically have to follow those criteria unless there are exceptions that we can justify.

"At this point in time the bank have been very co-operative and collaborative with the transition. If they were running the club per-se they would be here. I wouldn't."

I don't think that Johnston really wanted to release that statement, until that point the issue of Rangers troubled finances was limited mainly to rumours, mainly internet fuelled.

By bringing the issue of the banks relationship with Rangers into the public domain Johnston gave credibility to the belief that under the new merged ownership of Lloyds/TSB/Halifax/Bank of Scotland finances have been severely tightened at Rangers.

Just how tightly that control has been applied is unclear although the lack of investment in the team this calendar year has been noticeable as has the issue of Smith's contract.

Smith has given Rangers back credibility on the park since replacing Paul le Guen but at a price that the new bankers are clearly uneasy with.

Almost a dozen signings in the £2m bracket have put a heavy burden on Rangers with the wages that have accompany Kevin Thompson, Kenny Miller, Maurice Edu, Pedro Mendes, Kyle Lafferty, Steven Davis, Steven Whittaker, Madjid Bougherra and Steven Naismith.

Smith's comments today will increase the spotlight on Rangers finances and the running of the club, there appears to be no easy escape from the clubs problems with even the once mighty Sir David Murray sidelined as the story unfolds.

Transfer windows and managerial contracts could become side issues as a much much bigger story unravels.

Johnston's press conference at Rangers September 28

Frail joy as u-19's beat Motherwell 4-1

Youth coach Stevie Frail was delighted to see his side battle against the elements to run out 4-1 winners over Motherwell today.

Greg Spence, Calum Bashaw and James Keating were on target for Celtic with an own goal from a Motherwell defender helping the home side to victory.

Conditions made the game difficult for both teams with Richie Towell splashing about down the right flank in the second half before the rain eased off for the final half hour.

Celtic scored three times in the last 20 minutes with Frail pleased to see his side back on the winning trail after four draws on the bounce.

He said: "There was a lot to be pleased about, the players showed some character to come back in those conditions after losing an equaliser at the start of the second half.

"The conditions worsened but I was delighted with the way that they played. They showed a lot of discipline to stick to their passing game.

COMFORTABLE
"We encourage the players all the time to pass the ball in areas where they are comfortable, the goals were excellent and very rewarding for everyone.

"The movement was pleasing, it's great to see things that you work on through the week coming to fruition on a Saturday."

Spence headed Celtic in front in the tenth minute from a Bagshaw cross with the same combination putting Celtic ahead in the 70th minute when a great pass from Bagshaw sent Spence through on goal with his pass sent into the net by a Motherwell defender.

EXHIBITION
Motherwell had equalised in the first minute of the second half with a 30 yard effort and looked as likely to win the match as the skies opened making the game an exhibition of sliding tackles for a while!

It was difficult to judge players in 'challenging' conditions but there was more than a few of the Celtic players that showed some good technique and a willingness to get on the ball, find some time and make passes.

James Forrest swapped from the right wing to the left in the second half but let himself down with some poor finishing after some trademark driving runs at the Motherwell defence.

TWARDZIK
In the centre of midfield there was plenty of creativity and workrate from the brilliantly named Bagshaw-Twardzik combination.

Filip Twardzik certainly looked the part in conditions far removed from those of the Czech Republic. Never afraid to take an extra touch on the ball Twardzik stood up well in the demanding conditions and was joined on the park by his brother Patrick who replaced Spence in the closing minutes.

The best goal of the day came from James Keatings in the 75th minute when he fired in a brilliant 30 yarder with Bagshaw completing the scoring four minutes later when he finished off a great passing move that cut open the Motherwell defence with a composed finish low into the net.

Celtic: Giordano, Towell; G Gallagher, D Gallagher, Brennan; Keatings, Bagshaw, F Twardzik, Santanocito; Spence, Forrest. Sub P Twardzik (Spence 88min)

It's Like Watching Brazil as Wednesday are Malkied

Malky Mackay's Watford turned on the style to beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 tonight to make it seven points in seven days for the Hornets.

Big Malky's boys showed a touch of class with some great passing football mixed with a cutting edge in front of goal which the visitors had no answer to.

Loan signings Tom Cleverley from Manchester United and Arsenal's Henri Lansbury used the visit of the Sky Sports cameras to the maximum as they displayed the ability that suggests that they are destined for the big time.

Lansbury and Adrian Mariappa put Watford in command early on but a goal on the stroke of half-time from Marcus Tudgay gave Mckay something to think over in his team-talk but his side responded to the set-back with Lansbury and Jon Harley putting the homeside 4-1 up on the hour mark.

PARACHUTE

After a near miss with relegation last season and the withdrawal of their parachute payments from the Premiership Malky has had to call on all his Championship experience and pull in a few favours to put a side together.

Tonight's win puts them within touching distance of a play-off place but the former Celtic and Queens Park defender is too experienced, even as a 37-year-old in his first managerial job, to go making any rash predictions.

He said: "I want this team to be competitive, if they can be competitive in every game then they have a chance.

"This is a really hard league, there are a lot of games in a short space of time with a lot of tough places to go, I've been in this for a long time.

"Every week there is a result that surprises you but not if you are involved in the league. We know that there are tough places to go to, teams go on a winning run that makes it difficult for others.

INVENTION

"The group that I have did themselves proud tonight. In large parts of the game we showed some real invention, the fourth goal in particular. They showed confidence in the second half to get on the ball and I was delighted.

"To lose a goal just on half-time was really disappointing, I knew that Sheffield Wednesday would come out in the second half and really commit us.

"The challenge to us was to match that and go beyond that, I think that they did that in the second half, they showed courage to get on the ball and a resilience at the back."

Watford were unable to pay out a single transfer fee during the close season as they lost their highest earners to Championship rivals with Tommy Smith and Mike Williamson also moving on to Portsmouth.

PROMOTING

Malky had to bring in players like striker Danny Graham from Carlisle and Scott Severin from Aberdeen while promoting the best of Watford's own kids from the reserve and youth sides.

Putting together a team with the transfer window still open couldn't have been easy for a selling club but Malky stuck to the task, held firm to his beliefs and quickly established a system and side that is growing in belief game by game.

Bringing in Cleverley and Lansbury has added a touch of quality to the team but it's a two way street with Arsenal and Manchester United finding out how their prospects can cope with the heavy demands of football in the Championship.

Asked about extending the players loan deals beyond January Malky replied: "It's up to their parent clubs to decide whether they want them to stay with us or to go back to their own club, I've spoken to both boys, they are enjoying being here and playing Championship football.

"Both of them are young reserves who want to make their way at their own clubs eventually, they need experience and that's what they are getting here at the moment in a really tough league."

Next up from the Championship of interest to Celtic supporters is Readings home match with Leicester in front of the Sky cameras giving fans a chance to see how Darren O'Dea is coping with regular first team football.

CELTIC v HAMBURG matc report

Youths face Motherwell at Lennoxtown

Stevie Frail's u-19 side return to action tomorrow when they face Motherwell at Lennoxtown with a 12 noon kick-off.

After a three week break due to international commitments Frail will be keen to see his side get back to winning ways after a run of four straight draws in the league.

Motherwell are in second place two points ahead of Celtic but Frail's side have a game in hand and are unbeaten this season after winning their first two games against Aberdeen and St Johnstone before the run of draws.

The u-19 league is looking very competitive this season with five points covering the top seven teams.

Motherwell lost their last match to leaders Falkirk but have beaten champions Hibs 3-0 and Rangers 4-1 this term.

Lennoxtown isn't as easy to reach as Barrafield but for any supporter at a loose end on a Saturday lunchtime the chance to see James Forrest and the other emerging talents should be worth the drive.

Gordon Strachan lined up Middlesbrough job

The appointment of Gordon Strachan as manager of Middlesbrough seems almost inevitable according to the Teeside grapevine.

Gareth Southgate's sacking had barely had time to sink in before the former Celtic manager was linked with the job with no other genuine contenders around.

How Strachan fares at Middlesbrough will be fascinating to watch for Celtic supporters who tried to warm to Strachan, who took to his successes but were left dismayed and disappointed as a golden opportunity to put daylight between the club and Rangers was carelessly tossed away.

Two single goal wins against Hibs and Hearts in May of this year would have given Strachan the fourth title of his Celtic reign but during the months since then Celtic supporters have been left thinking over what might have been.

If he takes on the 'Boro job we will see just how Strachan fares as a manager.

Some of the questions left unanswered by his time at Celtic will be resolved.

Was he too keen to please the boardroom?

Did he have issues dealing with high profile players?

Can he avoid the baiting of the media?

How good is his judgement in the transfer market?

At Celtic success generally means that you were more successful than Rangers, Strachan saw off Alex McLeish and Paul le Guen with ease but stumbled against Walter Smith although there were notable successes as well.

THRILLING

In Europe Strachan achieved greater success than Martin O'Neill but despite thrilling Champions League campaigns highlighted by wins over Manchester United and AC Milan defeats from Artmedia Bratislava and Aalborg are just as vivid.

Looking back at Strachan's time at Celtic the defeat in Aalborg was the end of the road for his reign which was confirmed in January when the only arrival was £100,000 Willo Flood to bolster the 4-in-a-row bid.

Without doubt Strachan was right to leave Celtic but the mystery of how they managed to lose the title to Rangers will remain as will the thoughts of what might have happened had the league been won last season.

I doubt if we'll ever see a Celtic manager remain in the job for more than four years, in those terms it'll be hard to better Strachan's record although arguments will run forever about what he actualy accomplished.

QUALITY

Three championships and back-to-back qualification for the last 16 in the Champions League will be hard to match but the quality of the football on view and development and progress of players is harder to defend.

Success in Scotland will never attract English clubs to come chasing after managers, results in Europe however are noted and the success Strachan enjoyed will have caught the eye of Middlesbrough owner Steve Gibson.

It may be overlooked in Scotland but Strachan has a far superior European record to Walter Smith. Despite the general praise that Smith receives and the 'safe pair of hands/Steady Eddie' type coverage that he gets his Champions League record is very poor with just five wins from 27 games.

In contrast Strachan has recorded seven wins from 18 Champions League matches.

IMPRESSED

That sort of record alongside three title wins will have impressed Gibson and there can be no doubt that contact has been established about the vacancy at Middlesbrough.

I'd have thought that Strachan would have hoped for a more high profile job after Celtic, he often dismissed talk of leaving Celtic to join a Coventry or Southampton type job where it would be a constant battle for Premiership survival.

Middlesbrough looks to have a similar profile to his two previous management jobs in England but the longer that a manager is out of football the keener they are to get back involved again.

At any other time Tony Mowbray would have been a strong candidate for the Middlesbrough job, watching Strachan back involved in management again will be fascinating, especially when it comes to January and the opening of the transfer window.

Celtic v Hamburg tonight, not Scotland v Hamburg

Contrary to some opinions being expressed elsewhere tonight's Europa League tie with SV Hamburg is about Celtic, it's not Scottish Football v SV Hamburg, it's actually Celtic v Hamburg.

What happens elsewhere and in the 'bigger picture' is only of interest to the tiny percentage of football followers who have no allegiance to any particular club.

Tonight the vast majority of football supporters in Scotland will be hoping for a Hamburg win, they have no interest in Hamburg but would love to see Celtic lose.

It was the same scenario on Tuesday when supporters up and down the country cheered wildly as a Romanian team that they would struggle to spell made up of players they didn't know beat Rangers 4-1 at Ibrox.

SUPPORTERS

That's life, that's the way supporters are, supporters support their team, nothing else. Supporters have no interest in the co-efficient, they want their team to succeed, to win, to progress.

The downside of any European success is that it allows other teams into Europe when they are clearly not at the races for that level of competition as the results of Aberdeen, Motherwell and Falkirk have demonstrated, there should never be more than three Scottish teams involved in European football if there is any interest in the mythical co-efficient.

It's always refreshing to see a manager speak up on the subject and within 24 hours of Rangers defeat from Unirea Tony Mowbray wasn't taking on any extra responsibility for the sake of Scottish football.

Managing Celtic is a big enough challenge for Mowbray, being expected to produce results for the Scottish game is asking far too much of the former West Brom and Hibs manager.

RESPONSIBILITY

Tonight Mowbray's only objective is a Celtic win, he said: "Do I feel a responsibility for the Scottish game? No.

"I have a responsibility to our supporters to try to give them a performance that they are happy with and hopefully try to get us some points.

"If it helps the mood around Scottish football then great, but basically we will be out to get some points to try to progress in a European competition."

A win tonight would be a great boost for a Celtic side that is clearly lacking in confidence and belief.

DISILLUSIONED

The season has yet to really catch fire with the new signings currently out injured and a deja-vu feeling to much of the games with supporters disillusioned and questioning the value that they are getting from their ticket money.

Without wishing to tempt fate the next couple of SPL fixtures aren't the most daunting, if Celtic can get back involved in the Europa League and put together a few SPL wins at the same time as Marc-Antoine Fortune returns from injury then things should start to look up.

Clearly the squad is some distance short of that required to be comfortable and competitive in the Champions League but some signs of recovery would be welcome.

The team has been on the slide for a while, there has been occasional highlights like the 2008 title win at Tannadice and last season's Co-Operative Cup win, but overall the graph has been downwards.

Confidence is essential in football but it only comes through winning matches, a win tonight would give the players some respite and the supporters hope that the club is at last moving forward towards recapturing some of the excitement and anticipation that has followed Celtic over the last decade.

Weekend of misery for the Celts but Championship interest tonight

What a weekend of misery it was in the land of Celtic.

As if the 0-0 draw with Motherwell wasn't bad enough, the loan Celts and former Celts were having just as miserable a time of it with the honourable exception of Malky Mackay with Watford winning away at Middlesboro (5/1 on some coupons).

Across the board it was misery all the way with Darren O'Dea a first half substitute in Reading's 3-1 defeat at West Brom and Cillian Sheridan playing the second half in Plymouth's 2-0 defeat at Blackpool.

On and on the defeats went, Swindon, including Simon Ferry and Ben Hutchison lost 2-0 at home to Hartlepool, Ujpest Dozsa lost 2-0 away to Kaposvar to and even Chris Sutton's 100% record in management went up in smoke with Lincoln losing at Northampton!

In management Davie Moyes and Mick McCarthy shared a draw between Everton and Wolves, Roy Keane's Ipswich drew at home with Swansea leaving Malky's Hornets as the only Celts with a weekend win thanks to Tom Cleverley's goal at Middlesboro.

To put a tin lid on things Paul Lambert's Norwich lost a late goal at Leeds on Monday night to go down to a 2-1 defeat.

Things don't stand still for long in football, especially in The Championship where each team has 46 fixtures to get through to chase a place in the Premiership, or more games if you take the play-off route.

Portman Road Ipswich looks like the pick of tonight's matches with Celtic links with Watford travelling to face bottom of the table Ipswich with Roy Keane chasing his first league win of the season.

Watford are neatly tucked into mid-table with the win at Middlesboro especially welcome after back-to-back home defeats.

As a former Norwich skipper Mackay will be in for a tough time of it at Ipswich but after more than a decade in the division the former Celtic defender will know what's in store.

Looking towards the Ipswich match he said: "I don’t think I’ve ever been to Ipswich in the whole of my playing and managerial career and had an easy game, so I don’t expect anything other than a really tough tie tomorrow night.

"I think the resilience the team showed against Middlesbrough and the courage they had to get the ball down and play really showed a growth in the group, which I was really happy about.

"Obviously to get the result means a lot to us, as it does to the little band of travelling fans who made the long and winding road up to Middlesbrough as well.

"Again at Ipswich we are playing against a team who have managed to spend some money in the summer and bring in some quality players with a new manager at the helm, there are different pressures there for us and we know it’s going to be difficult. "

Elswhere in the Championship Reading head to QPR while Plymouth have as close as they are likely to get to a derby when they make the trip to Bristol City which could see Cillian Sheridan lining up against Paul Hartley and one of his Motherwell team-mates from last season, David Clarkson.

STATS STATS STATS- Celtic maintain unbeaten home run?

I don't know if it was Craig Brown that brought statistics into football debate but there's no shortage of stats floating about in the modern game.

It has been suggested that Newcastle Utd once had a Stats Department dreaming up Alan Shearer's 100th Newcastle/Premiership/senior goal, Alan Shearer 200 Newcastle/Premiership/senior goal, the 25th/50th/60th ground that Shearer had scored at, Shearer's 50th/100th/150th goal at St James Park or whatever was required to deflect away from the trophy room.

After the goal-less draw with Motherwell on Saturday Tony Mowbray quickly came out with some stats to demonstrate Celtic's dominance only to be hit with a two wins in seven home matches stat in reply!

As Mowbray admitted, stats can be massaged to suit whatever purpose although the Celtic boss stopped short of Ebbe Skovdahl's classic quote that: "Statistics are just like mini-skirts, they give you good ideas but hide the most important thing."

Celtic's start to the season is apparently the worst since 1946 but there wasn't many games against Arsenal and Dinamo Moscow through the forties and fifties, League Cup qualifying groups tended to be a bit more gentle than the cutting edge of European competition.

Without doubt season 1977/78 was a horrendous campaign as the club missed out on Europe finishing fifth in the Premier Division and losing to First Division Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup.

Comparing like for like, league matches, the current season is a beacon of consistency compared to the disastrous 77/78 campaign.

So far Celtic have won two and drawn two at home this season, turning the clock back 32 years makes for very painful viewing as Celtic lost at home to Motherwell and St Mirren, drew with Dundee United while beating Hibs and Clydebank to record P5 W2 D1 L2.

Away from home wasn't much fun either with the start of the season including defeats at Ayr United, Aberdeen, Rangers and Partick Thistle!

I'm pretty confident that this season will turn out much better than the 77/78 campaign which collapsed largely on the back of injuries to Danny McGrain and Pat Stanton following the transfer of Kenny Dalglish to Liverpool during the close season.

The only stats that matter are shown in the SPL table although the standard of football is clearly a concern when the club plays against European opposition, I suspect that there could be some scary Euro stats coming this week, off the top of my head I think that Celtic have only won two of their last 15 European matches.

Peter Latchford Supersonic 70s interview

Evening Herald report on Motherwell match

Oh Hampden in the sun... 52 years on

Fifty two years ago today the Celtic-Rangers derby match produced an incredible scoreline as the teams served up an eight goal thriller in the League Cup Final.

Thankfully Celtic banged in seven of them with Billy McPhail leading the way with a hat-trick.

The Celtic team contains some great names, Charlie Tully, Bobby Evans, Bertie Peacock, Sean Fallon and Neilly Mochan are all still fondly remembered by older supporters but amazingly it was to be the last Celtic trophy win for all of them.

The celebrations must have been special but it was to be a long eight years before Celtic lifted another trophy which perhaps adds to the charm and mystique of the 7-1 match... not to mention the BBC 'losing' footage of the match before it resurfaced about 30 years later!

Bertie Auld had played for Celtic in both legs of the quarter-final win over Third Lanark as well as the semi final win over Clyde but wasn't selected for the final.

Bertie's story is great enough, signed three times by Celtic, a Fairs Cup Final appearance for Birmingham but nothing would have topped playing in Lisbon and also the 7-1 game... although Bertie is hardly short on talking points.

CELTIC: Dick Beattie, John Donnelly, Sean Fallon, Willie Fernie, Bobby Evans, Bertie Peacock, Charlie Tully, Bobby Collins, Billy McPhail, Sammy Wilson, Neilly Mochan

Hamburg draw at home ahead of Celtic tie

Hamburg drew at home yesterday with Bayer Leverkusen to leave both team in joint top spot in the Bundesliga with 21 points from nine games.

Thursday's Europa League tie becomes more daunting by the day with confidence low amongst both players and supporters approaching the visit of the Germans.

Facing the leaders of the Bundesliga would have been a tough enough task for the better Celtic side's of recent seasons, I doubt if there will be any Celtic supporters confident of a home win on Thursday.

Yesterday's draw with Leverkusen was the first points that Hamburg have dropped at home this season with their away record almost as impressive with two wins and two draws from four matches.

Hamburg did of course lose spectacularly away to Rapid Vienna 3-0 in the opening match of the Europa League but that appears to be a one off blip in an impressive start to the season by Bruno Labbadia's side.

Of more concern than the form of Hamburg is Celtic's own performances with the goal-less draw against Motherwell allowing Rangers to move into top place.

Although it was the first time this season that the team had failed to score the result wasn't really surprising against a young, fit and organised Motherwell side who took a point from Celtic without being outstanding.

For many supporters it was a distressing return to last season which was hardly surprising since none of Tony Mowbray's summer signings were in the starting line-up.

Despite that fact Mowbray knows that more is expected from HIS team, yesterdays side should have had enough about them to break down a resolute but limited Motherwell team.

After the match the Celtic manager came up with some impressive statistics about his side's performance but again that sounded more like a throwback to last season when Gordon Strachan would produce some stats to deflect from his side's shortcomings.

A massive effort is now required if Celtic are to remain in contention to qualify from the Europa League, but again, expectations are low amongst a support that has had very little to get enthused or excited about over the last 18 months.

Elsewhere in the Europa League Rapid Vienna travel to meet Sturn Graz in the Austrian league, Rapid are currently in third place domestically, a win away to fourth placed Graz would take Rapid to a point behind Salzburg and Austria Vienna.

CLICK HERE for Peter Latchford interview