whatever happens to the likely lads?

Following the transfer of Simon Lynch to Preston North End and the imminent departure of Colin Healy, Celtic have come in for more criticism than King Herod for their treatment of 'youngsters'. The Fourth Estate, among others, appear to be laying the blame squarely at the door of Martin O'Neill for not giving young players their chance at Celtic. All we need now is for Bertie Vogts to chip in with his two pfennigs worth about how Martin O'Neill is ruining Scottish Football.

Now, this might seem a trifle harsh, but there's something that has to be said here. These players have left (or are about to leave) for one reason and one reason only. They have proved conclusively that they are not good enough to feature regularly in the Celtic starting line up on a regular basis.

Before elaborating on this startling premis, allow me to firstly take on board a valid criticism of OFM. It is undoubtedly true that many of the players he buys are bought as squad players rather than as first team picks. Look at Sylla, Guppy, Fernandez and Laursen. If you add Bobby Petta and Tom Boyd to that list it could be argued that these players - all on big salaries - are little better than some of the young players currently in the Celtic reserves. Call me naive, but I would like to hope that loyalty to the aforementioned would not stop youngsters from getting an opportunity. It's one thing being kept out of the team by class acts like Larsson. Quite another being kept out by ... well, you can fill in a name of your choice here (personally I would question whether Crainey would have been any less effective on the left of a back three this season than Laursen)

Having said that, the two players currently in the public eye, Lynch and Healey, have been at Celtic Park for quite a few years now and have served under a variety of managers, both at first team and reserve level. The managers and coaches of any top club have to make their decision as to who to select in the first team based on an assessment of what a player can produce in front of 60,000 fans at Parkhead. This selection is based on a number of premises. Firstly, has the player, say Lynch, given Martin O' Neill the enviable dilemma of playing exceptionally well in the majority of his under 21 matches thereby rendering it virtually impossible for the manager to omit him from a starting place? Although not a regular attender at these fixtures, I think I can make a stab at the answer to that question.

The question I would have to put to anyone advocating the inclusion of more youngsters in the Celtic first team is, who would you drop to give these guys a regular game? Between Larsson, Sutton and Hartson, which one do you think should have been dropped to allow Simon Lynch a regular game? Healy can consider himself a bit (un)fortunate as he has been injured on occasions this season when he could otherwise have been considered for a first team place. However, he seems to be yet another player whose star is in the ascendancy simply because he hasn't been playing.

Even when he has been fit, look at the competition he is up against to secure a place in the first team. Paul Lambert is in the twilight of an admirable career and Lennon has had injury problems - certainly in this campaign. Petrov himself was out for the best part of last season with a broken leg. Healey would have seemed be the first option O' Neill would have turned to; but no, not even a sniff. Why? Because he has proved in training, day out and day in that he is not good enough. Even in the few games he has played, for example against Inverness in the CIS Cup, could anyone honestly say he looked an outstanding prospect?

The manager and coaches base their summation of a player's ability on what they see on the training ground. There, it is easy to spot the major flaws in a player's game, and - no doubt about it - both Healey and Lynch have proved that there is enough missing from their game to explain why their future careers will have to blossom at some other venue than Celtic Park.

It takes a great deal of mental toughness as well as ability to dislodge and permanently replace a more experienced and established player from your position in the team. Only the best players can do this. Anyone lucky enough to have witnessed the unleashing of Charlie Nicholas on Premier League defenders (aka Monsters Inc) in 1980 will recall that from the moment he took his first touch on the ball it was clear he was something special (see also McStay, Paul). 'If you're good enough, you're old enough' was never a truer aphorism. Ultimately, this is why the rest will leave.

The most common fault, of course, is inconsistency, something which may not be immediately discernible to the critical eyes of the home support - especially if a 'youngster' is blooded and does well on his debut only to return to the stiffs for a couple of months only to be thrown in again in some meaningless end of season testimonial - but a judgement we will have to take on trust from coaches who spend every day with these Celtic hopefulls.

As an aside, the term 'youngster' being presently bandied about, is also one of the most played out labels in Scottish football. Jamie Smith is still looked upon as a 'youngster' by the media. He is 23 years old! (If he was good enough he would have a couple of hundred first team games under his belt by now).

Doubtless many more players will follow Simon Lynch out of the exit door at Celtic Park in the not too distant future - as indeed they have been doing ever since the club was started. To put it simply, there is a veritable logjam of professionals at Celtic Park and space must be made for the next wave of youngsters to prove their worth. Given that the media have chosen to highlight this particular player at this point in time, it will be interesting to watch how the careers of these players develop over the next few years. Craig Brown indicated when he signed Lynch that he viewed him as being a squad player to start with. On a more positive note, chances are he will be good enough to become a regular first team player at Preston.

Many young players have left Celtic in recent years, pausing only on the way out to suggest that if they had been given a chance in the first team they would have been able to do the business. Interestingly after leaving Celtic most of them seem to have disappeared into anonymity. There are umpteen examples of this phenomenon, but to highlight just two among recent departures, Portsmouth have put Mark Burchill up for sale - which hardly suggests that leaving Celtic was a boost to his career - while John Paul McBride, who was viewed by many as being a potential Celtic midfield player for years to come, is playing for St Johnstone in the First Division. Indeed, It's hard to think of any young player who has left Celtic in recent years and gone on to prove the manager wrong by making a name for themselves elsewhere. The old adage in football,'every player finds his own level', seems to be the case for most of the players who leave.

We can only wish all the young players who leave Celtic the best of luck in their new ventures. At the same time we should also eagerly anticipate the supply of quality youngsters who will state their case in the next few years - and Celtic do have a few exciting prospects worth waiting for. If they fail it's because they are not good enough. Football's a tough old game!

The truth, unpalatable to some, is that if they are good enough they will eventually be given a chance at Celtic. If they are not good enough they won't get that opportunity. Celtic would be taking money under false pretences from the fans if they were to pick the first 11 on any principle other than merit. We pay to see the best starting 11 possible. If they were all young Scots a la the Lisbon Lions, so much the better. However, given the paucity of young talent in Scotland today that would seem to be a distant and rather forlorn hope.

One benefit of this media campaign to encourage the flourishing of young talent would be if the papers concerned put some of their ageing hacks out to seed and opened their positions up to young talent. What a breath of fresh air if the Bill Leckies, Roger Baillies, Hugh Keevins and Marco Guidis of this World were moved on as they were stopping young talent coming through. Think how that might improve the quality of writing in the Fish Wrappers!

PARANOID PAT &
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE

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