Years ago Rangers had the pull to buy England’s biggest star Paul Gascoigne, this transfer window illustrates once again how they and Celtic can no longer compete.
The thought of England’s biggest star Wayne Rooney turning his back on clubs in his homeland for the Scottish Premier League seems ludicrous. Laughable even.
In the mid 90s Paul Gascoigne rejected clubs in England to go north of the border during the peak of his career.
Little chance of any world class stars doing the same now.
The level of Scottish football has dipped remarkably over the last 15 years, so much so that in Europe they were eclipsed by the Republic of Ireland and Shamrock Rovers earlier this season.
It was not always like this, even in the past decade Celtic and Rangers have reached European finals, before being beaten by Porto and Zenit St Petersburg.
Both clubs are now in a vicious cycle, all borne out by a lack of money.
As this transfer window has again shown, neither club can afford nor attract top quality players, hindering their chances of progress in Europe.
Now both clubs have regressed to the level of the Scottish national team who have failed to qualify for an international tournament since 1998.
Even players moving to the Championship from the SPL have struggled, look at Kris Boyd, record scorer in Scotland, who flopped at Middlesborough scoring just six times in 27 appearances.
This month he signed for MLS side the Portland Timbers. Many may choose to argue that the MLS itself is a step up from the SPL.
Scottish football is failing to progress because the clubs can no longer financially compete.
As Nikica Jelavic shows, the SPL is seen as a stepping stone by foreigners to the English Premier League.
Rangers made an attempt to sign Norwich City striker Grant Holt, but they were bluntly turned down by both club and player, while Newcastle’s Leon Bent rejected Celtic.
In the past players could thrive from learning by playing alongside genuine top class stars such as Henrik Larsson or Paul Gascoigne.
Now forget about signing their modern day equivalents.
With rich Russian and now even Chinese clubs throwing cash around, Scots must make do with bargain basement buys.
image: © Audrey Pilato
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