Our Euro Trio's Mix Of Scores Still Gives Us Hope

Sep 23 2007 Rob Maclean

GAMBLING has never been one of my greatest traits and trips to the bookies tend to be on a one-way ticket.

Sadly, I rarely have to return totrio collect my winnings after I've made an occasional wager.

And my betting record wouldn't have improved in the last week if I'd used my questionable football knowledge to take a stab at Old Firm results in the Champions League.

I wouldn't have expected Rangers to dump German champions Stuttgart and get their Group E campaign off to a winning start.

And in Group D I was surprised Celtic were outclassed in Ukraine to the extent that the margin of defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk could have been more clear-cut than 2-0.

And that's a Celtic side which impressively ousted Spartak Moscow in the qualifiers and one which has been on form in the SPL.

Gordon Strachan has to back his Bhoys of course.

After the match last Tuesday night he insisted they could have gone on to level the game if they had taken their chances.

Using that rationale Shakhtar might have scored four or five rather than stopping at two.

Celtic's Polish keeper Artur Boruc (below) did his bit for damage limitation with a series of superb saves.

Throw in the fact that Brazilian Brandao was denied a stonewall tap-in goal by an offside ruling that was blatantly bungled and you realise how lucky the Hoops were.

You could argue had Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink's second-half header found the target Celtic may have been in with a chance.

But I reckon Shakhtar had the ability to step up a gear when it was necessary.

The fact is Celtic weren't at the races all night.

The Ukrainian league leaders' summer spending is estimated at around £40million.

And any team able to leave Mexican magician Nery Castillo on the bench isn't short of playing power.

But Celtic will be disappointed they made a major contribution to their own downfall in Donetsk.

It was startling to watch such a sloppy start from the Scottish champions and I was surprised by Scott Brown's display.

He still has a lot to learn at this level and Tuesday night's game may have come a bit too soon for him.

It must also be a worry for Strachan how much success Shakhtar got from attacking the wide areas.

Their full-backs Razvan Rat and Darijo Srna played like wingers and Celtic pair Mark Wilson and Lee Naylor struggled to cope with their constant threat.

The Hoops gaffer will be working on that weakness but has no need to press the panic button ... yet.

Walter Smith will also be jumping to no conclusions on the basis of Rangers' opening night success story against Stuttgart.

But they'll travel to Lyon in 10 days' time for matchday two wit his bolstered confidence about their chances of accompanying Barcelona to the knockout stages.

If Barry Ferguson's dodgy knee can stand the strain Rangers are well equipped to qualify.

The Scotland skipper was immense on Wednesday night and seems to get the best from players around him.

Alan Hutton, though, was the star. I didn't think he could top his display for Scotland in Paris where he was immense.

But it was his rampaging runs that turned the game around against Stuttgart. The penalty is proof of that.

Smith's decision to re-acquaint Charlie Adam with the first team scene was a master stroke.

Perhaps a few weeks on the bench is just what the youngster needed to get his game together.

He showed admirable composure in curling in the Rangers equaliser.

Composure is what Aberdeen don't possess when they get in and around the opposition penalty box.

If they did, they'd be out of the lower reaches of the SPL and a whole lot closer to the group stages of the UEFA Cup.

Their failure to score at Pittodrie on Thursday night against Dnipro, second only to top team Shakhtar in Ukraine, will surely count them out.

I hope not and I can understand Jimmy Calderwood's upbeat analysis of the first leg.

The Dons were better than they've been so far this season.

But Dnipro played well within themselves and I fear they've much more in their locker for the deciding game.

Aberdeen have to believe they can still do it and I was impressed with their urgency in the goalless draw the other night. Their biggest successes, however, were Zander Diamond and Andy Considine in central defence and midfield anchorman Scott Severin.

Further forward, despite the massive efforts piled in by the likes of Lee Miller and Chris Clark, I was never convinced Aberdeen were going to score.

The quality of balls into the box wasn't good enough and when they did get supply into the danger area they lacked a clinical finisher.

So even though they had mixed results Aberdeen, Celtic and Rangers are all still in with a shout.

After the national side's heroics in France it's good to know our Euro trio have the chance to prolong Scottish football's feelgood factor.