Football: Old Firm will need forwards to follow goal Fad

Sep 16 2007 ANDY WALKER

BIG players always deliver on the big stage.

Alex McLeish certainly thought so after seeing the stunning strike from James McFadden earn Scotland the most unlikely of victories over World Cup finalists France on their own patch.

The Scotland boss said: "It was a fantastic effort but James is such a brilliant striker of the ball why should we be surprised?"

Well maybe the truth is we shouldn't be.

With a winner against Holland already on his CV and now one against France we should be confident of looking towards one of our best players in the knowledge he can produce moments of magic and deliver the unexpected.

Make no mistake - it will be astonishing if we make it to Euro 2008.

The same applies to our club football.

It will be utterly remarkable if Celtic and Rangers can qualify beyond the group stages of Europe's premier competition.

The Champions League kicks off on Tuesday night with Celtic travelling to the Ukraine to take on Shakhtar Donetsk, looking for their first away win in 16 attempts in this fantastic competition.

Twenty-four hours later Ibrox will be rocking when Rangers get back among the elite with their Group E opener against Stuttgart.

And just as Scotland now have a realistic chance of being part of Euro 2008 thanks to players doing it on the big occasion, Gordon Strachan and Walter Smith will need some heroes to step up to the mark if they are to make the Champions League knock-out stages.

For Celtic, if Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink can produce moments of magic it will certainly put an end to the growing number of Hoops fans who think he can't deliver at this level.

At more than £3million Vennegoor of Hesselink is a Champions League signing in every sense.

Injury forced him to miss much of last season's campaign but when he scored against Manchester Utd at Old Trafford the Celtic fans thought they were looking at a guy who could take on the best and come up with the goods.

They thought he'd score in any company.

Right now they're not so sure.

No one comes close to Henrik Larsson's goal-grabbing exploits in recent times but John Hartson and Chris Suttonwere both capable of scoring on the big occasion as Celtic strikers.

And last season Kenny Miller produced his best 90 minutes in a Celtic jersey when he notched a double against Benfica although he still can't complain about being off-loaded to Derby County.

No Celtic striker can expect to survive when he doesn't score regularly - no matter how good a team player he may be.

Vennegoor of Hesselink already has a good ratio of goals to games.

But the demanding Hoops support like their strikers to score against Rangers, score in Cup Finals and now the Champions League is part of their regular diet the forwards are expected to score there as well.

It has to be said that since the start of the season Vennegoor of Hesselink hasn't looked strong or sharp to me.

He was never blessed with a great turn of pace but his general game outside the box suggests he can do a lot more.

Celtic made it into the last 16 a year ago without a striker who consistently scored on the big stage. That must change this time if they are to progress.

Over at Ibrox the fans' new hero is Daniel Cousin. The early indications show the striker is the opposite to Filip Sebo. He can score, he's a team player, reliable - everything Sebo wasn't.

When you look at his stats, the Gabon international plays a lot of games every season and has a decent return of goals.

That suggests his fitness is good and the more he plays with his new team the stronger and sharper he'll be.

The big question is - in such a tough group where points will be so hard to come by can Cousin deliver the goals to give Rangers a chance of qualifying?

Smith's side will be happy to start at home.

Points gathered at Ibrox will be essential and despite the challenge from the French and German champions - not to mention Barcelona - you can never rule Rangers out of any game in front of a home support.

Everyone saw what the Tartan Army did for the Scotland players with their tremendous backing and my experience is fans can put a yard on to your stride at times when you feel how much they want you to do well.

McFadden responded to the support and delivered for Scotland.

By the time Tuesday and Wednesday nights come round the focus will turn to the big players at Celtic and Rangers who the punters look to for success.

The question is - who's up for it?