Gordon Strachan has been given the first challenge of his domestic dominance. His first two years were slap-bang in the middle of Rangers completely embarrassing themselves, with Big Eck’s doomed final season and a certain arrogant Frenchman attempting to overcome the Scottish cry-babies at Ibrox.

Not too much of a challenge, then. Take Rangers’ challenge from the equation and two League titles slip effortlessly into the trophy cabinet. It was all too easy. But the more conscientious amongst Celtic’s supporters knew that Sir David Murray would not let this go on for very long.

In fact, many observers were warning Celtic to take full advantage of domestic and financial dominance by pursuing a slightly more expensive dive into the transfer market. To stay ahead of the chasing pack one must better oneself at every available opportunity. Makes sense.

'It is so typical of Celtic not to strengthen from an advantageous position. And extremely annoying'


Murray retaliated by swiftly dismissing Paul Le Guen and ushering the bamboozled Frenchman back to his homeland. Walter Smith and Ally McCoist were brought in to stabilise the club and prepare them for a concerted challenge this season. And so it has materialised.

Strachan’s first true test and, so far, he has failed miserably. Three straight Old Firm defeats since Smith’s return and the tightest race for the Scottish Premier League for three years. Obviously, I watch Celtic every week and if there are some things that are glaringly wrong then surely they should be fixed.

Statistics can be thrown around all day about Celtic having the best defence in the league. That’s fine, but when you are playing Gretna, St Mirren and the like it is very rare for them to threaten Artur Boruc. Simply put, Gary Caldwell and Stephen McManus are bloody awful.

This was most typically exposed every time we played in the Champions League. Barcelona must have thought it was the celebration of the Three Kings. End of story.

If the money were to be made available, it would do Celtic no harm whatsoever to try to persuade Richard Dunne and Daniel van Buyten to Parkhead, or at least make Bobo Balde earn his whopping wages instead of sitting on his backside.

It is so typical of Celtic not to strengthen from an advantageous position. And extremely annoying. You may not rate Dunne and Van Buyten too highly but they are within our price range and a lot better than what we have at present.

If Strachan stopped tinkering with his formation in the middle of the park then perhaps we would get a settled partnership. The trouble is, he doesn’t even know who are the best to place in the engine room and there’s only 10 games left to find out!

It’s very rough and tumble in Scotland and Strachan’s insistence on playing pitty-patty football does not work. Smith knows what he’s doing. It’s not pretty to watch but it is effective. As much as I want to see good passing football, it’s only good when there is an end product.

Walking the ball into the net is OK when you have Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi at your disposal, not Evander Sno and sometimes Scott McDonald. For God’s sake Gordon, buy a striker who can burst the back of the net. Celtic need a talisman up front and Scott McDonald and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink just don’t cut the mustard.

Actually, you can add a creative central midfield player to that wish-list who can help Scott Brown adapt to life at a bigger club, as he has been a major disappointment.

Which striker and which midfielder? It’s tricky because Celtic can’t shop in the same areas as Chelsea and Manchester United. No way. Anyone but who Celtic have now would improve the team and perhaps get them into the last eight of Europe. It’s a pipe dream, of course, but if Celtic could somehow persuade Klaas-Jan Huntelaar . . . !