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.

Spywatch: Form guide to Rapid Vienna

Rapid Vienna came from behind last night to beat SC Magna 3-1 ahead of Thursday's Europa League clash with Celtic.

Despite the win and their impressive European form Rapid are sitting in fourth place in the Austrian League, the league that made Filip Sebo a goal machine.

Rapid have a poor record away from home this season having won just once in four league matches with two draws and a defeat.

Their only away win was last Wednesday against KSV Superfund where Andreas Dober scored the only goal of the game.

PERFORMANCES

Looking at their form this season it does seem that they keep their best performances for European matches although even that has been far from spectacular.

There's no getting away from a 3-0 win over Bundesliga leaders SV Hamburg but their previous results weren't out of the ordinary.

To reach the Europa League Rapid put out Aston Villa on away goals, we all know Martin O'Neill's attitude to the Uefa Cup/Europa League and it's fair to say that Villa have quickly got over the ko from Rapid and are safely into their favoured position lurking around seventh place in the Premiership.

Rapid had to get through three qualifying rounds to reach the Europa League which says a lot about their recent European pedigree.

In the second qualifying round they saw off the Albania side Kllaznia with an 8-0 aggregate before toiling through against APOP/ Kinyras Peyias of Cyprus on a 4-3 aggregate to face Villa in the play off.

FORTRESS

Rapid don't have much of a recent pedigree but the old fortress Celtic Park is in need of some restoration with just one win from our last six home European ties.

Barcelona, Aalborg, Manchester United, Moscow Dynamo and Arsenal have all avoided defeat at Celtic Park in the last two years with only Vilareal, who had already qualified for the Champions League losing.

Tony Mowbray gave an honest yet brutal assessment of yesterday's win at St Mirren which will be well received by supporters but probably not as welcome in the dressing room.

Everything that the Celtic manager said publicly will have been told directly to the players but in any walk of life it's not pleasing to hear public criticism from the gaffer.

Working with the same group of players Mowbray has to raise their performance levels to get victories over Rapid and Rangers to send the club into the international break on a high.

CHALLENGING

Both games will be tough and challenging but most of the players currently at Celtic have came through tougher challenges successfully in the recent past.

Two victories, even if they are in a similar style to the St Mirren match will be warmly welcomed by the support.

The feel-good factor expected after Gordon Strachan's departure hasn't yet happened even though the supporters now have a manager that they can relate to and respect.

Mowbray has to be all things to all men but a couple of victories over the next week will grant him some breathing time as he attempts to put his mark on the team after admitting after the Hapoel defeat that 'We are a million miles from where I want this club to be'.

McStay prepares for Ujpest debut

By Joe McHugh


Former Celtic reserve boss Willie McStay couldn't have asked for a tougher start to his new job as manager of Ujpest Dozsa than a Europa League qualifier against Steau Bucharest.

After less than a month in the job McStay, and his assistant Joe McBride, travel to the Romanian capital hoping to cause a shock that would certainly be noticed around Europe.

Hungarian football has plummeted over the last twenty years whilst pockets of Eastern Europe have flourished with local entrepreneurs pouring their new found wealth into football clubs and attracting players from around the world, particularly from South America.

DIFFICULTIES
Steaua have a great European pedigree and last season they played in the group stage of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, Fiorentina and Lyon but despite the difficulties of the tie McStay is looking forward to the challenge of leading his new side into action for the first time.

"Before the draw was made our president said that he wanted to avoid Steaua and Galatasaray but unfortunately we got paired with Steaua," he admitted.

"It'll be a very tough challenge for the club, for myself and the players, but we've prepared well. I've been to watch Steaua against CSKA Sofia and everyone is ready for the match.

"I've picked up as much information as possible about them, they have excellent players with good European experience.

"It's going to be a very hard game for us, totally different to games in the Hungarian league but these ties will quickly given me an idea of the squad and where we need to strengthen.

"There's not much money available for transfers but my job is to work with the players that we have and put my stamp on their game.

"That will be an attacking passing game but we're not going to get the chance to do that against Steaua. We'll have to try and keep it tight and hope to take any chances that we create."

CHALLENGE
After over a decade in charge of Celtic's youth development programme and almost three years managing the Celtic reserve side McStay is enjoying the new challenge of working at the cutting edge of the game in an entirely new environment.

Withoutquite developing a Schteve McLaren-esque accshent he speaks at a slower pace delivering his words carefully after a few weeks of dealing with a curious local press intrigued by the new man in charge.

Dealing with the media is an essential part of modern management although it can't be easy handling camera crews from Romanian television channels probing for an insight into his thoughts on how Ujpest will fare against Steaua.

"The language is fine," he admitted. "All of the players speak or understand English, I've got a good interpreter but my delivery has to be different.

"I have to speak slower and doing that you can lose some meaning. I went off into a two minute rant the other week and although I don't think that the players really understood me the message got across.

INTERPRETER
"We've now got an interpreter that understands football-speak. The language on the training pitch or in the dressing room is different to ordinary language. He knows the phrases and the meanings, small things like that can make a big difference.

"I have to get my views over and feel the reaction of players, that part is difficult but I'm learning their language and the players are getting used to the way that I operate.

"It's strange but challenging to come to a new country and have to pick things up fast in football terms.

"I'm learning about Ujpest, the other teams in the city and elsewhere in Hungry, finding out how they play, the type of players that we have and how best to use them.

"It's a huge learning curve but I'm really enjoying it. Everything is new and challenging and I can honestly say that 24 hours isn't enough hours in the day for me.

"It'll make me a better coach, I'm learning about a new football culture and having to adapt using the experience that I've picked up over the last 15 years.

MCBRIDE
"Having Joe McBride with me has been invaluable, we know how each other operates and it helps you settle in when there's someone that you've worked with before at the club.

"We've got a similar vision for how to play the game and so far everything has gone as well as we could have wished for."

Scottish managers have scattered themselves around the globe in recent years with Iain Porterfield, Bobby Williamson and Jimmy Bone finding themselves in unusual outposts.

Jobs in Europe have been a rarity with England normally the extent of any coach or managers ambitions.

Taking the leap into the relative unknown of Hungarian football is both a huge challenge but also a risk for McStay who probably had one of the safest jobs in Scottish football with 15 years service at Celtic.

Giving Steaua Bucharest a fright in his first competitive game would certainly launch his managerial career which without doubt will be closely followed by the movers and shakers at his former club.