SOCCER ANGLES:Supporters in Scotland are no fools, they know third division football when they see it

ON THE final whistle, as the enormity of what he has let himself in for must surely have begun to dawn on Robbie Keane, there was a tug on the arm from Kilmarnock’s Jamie Hamill.

From 50 yards away, sitting close to ecstatic, noisy Killie fans, there was no chance of hearing what Hamill said, but judging by Keane’s “over there in a few minutes” nod of the head, Hamill had just asked Keane for his Celtic jersey. In its own way, it’s quite a souvenir.

And it is one that Keane might have been prepared to part with given what had just gone on. At Rugby Park on Tuesday night the most daring and surprising transfer of the January window – albeit on loan terms – got off to the worst possible start.

Celtic had not lost at Kilmarnock for nine years. There had been 31 meetings between the two sides in that period and 29 had been Celtic wins. The other two were draws.

Yet here were Celtic, less than 24 hours after Keane completed his last-minute move north from Tottenham, slumping to a 1-0 loss. It was embarrassing for him personally and for the club, and while there is always a smile to be had when an underdog triumphs, on this occasion the smile passed quickly. Depression kicked in.

Because this was a bad night not just for Celtic, but for Scottish football. So drained of self-esteem is it that any injection of interest or quality must be welcomed heartily, desperately.

Keane moving to Celtic made him the biggest name in Scotland. Everyone, even Rangers fans, needs Keane to be a success. That’s why Walter Smith welcomed him, it is a positive development.

Because, as Smith knows, what will it say if Keane’s time fizzles out? That he has been dragged down? What will it say if Rangers, run by banks and without a euro spent in the last three windows, win a domestic treble – which remains a possibility? What will that say about the Scottish Premier League? Will it merely say that Tony Mowbray has bitten off more than he can chew in trying to stage a mid-season transformation in personnel? Or will it say once again that Scottish football has been proven to be threadbare, and not just economically?

Superficially, Kilmarnock’s victory was a strike for democracy, and who would not welcome that? But it is, sadly, democracy by decline, not by improvement and enfranchisement.

Even Dermot Desmond might agree that with a transfer to England out of the question, Celtic need to be closer to other clubs in the SPL and not just Rangers. Increased competition would not be a denial of the Old Firm’s chances, rather it would act as a move towards sustainability.

Imagine for example the tonic it would be if Hibernian were to receive a transfusion of money and really have a go.

Or Dundee United, or Aberdeen. Or two of them. It would have a transformative effect, it would generate excitement which in turn brings finance which in turns leads to better players.

A modest – by English standards – investment in two clubs outside Glasgow would cost, say, €6 million each. Let’s make it €10 million.

There are managers on the east coast of Scotland who say they could do a lot with that. As investments go, it would be more productive for the country than the money spent on Robbie Keane’s alleged salary.

Aberdeen are the last club outside the Old Firm to win the SPL, but it was in 1985. Alex Ferguson had not yet left.

Aberdeen began this season by losing 8-1 on aggregate to Czech club Sigma Olomouc in Europe. When they met Celtic on the league season’s opening day at Pittodrie, Aberdeen were three down before half-time.

Mark McGhee is manager at Aberdeen. Before that Celtic game, in his first notes of the season, McGhee said in the programme: “Scottish football is in crisis.”

He elaborated afterwards. “Talking finances in particular, there’s a gulf that is growing between us and the first division (League One) in England, and the Championship,” he said.

“We’re not able to compete for players in the Championship. At best it’s the division below. Obviously that is going to impact upon the quality of the game in Scotland.

“If we continue as we did this summer to lose the best of our young players to a slightly higher level down there, and replace them with players from a lower level, that’s got to impact on the quality of the competition.

“People must understand that over time that will diminish the competition. It’s killing us.”

McGhee has been proved correct. Attendances outside Glasgow – and in it sometimes – have been dishearteningly low.

The punters are not fools, like McGhee they know third division football when they see it. There is, moreover, a deep recession. Ticket prices are too high – maybe not to watch Kenny Dalglish or Henrik Larsson but to see Glen Loovens or Kenny Miller – and you fear the pertinence of the sociologists’ argument that too much TV and chips has taken a toll over the past two decades on Scottish youth.

Alex Ferguson was back in his hometown this week and spoke optimistically about a Scottish 13 year-old he has at Manchester United, but it is no conveyer belt. There was not one Scot in the Celtic starting XI at Kilmarnock – unless you wish to include Aiden McGeady. And he doesn’t wish you to.

The situation feels critical. If Celtic are camouflaging their attendances by putting “unknown” where the gate figure used to be then what hope for the others? Clearly the price of tickets must be addressed there as in England but whereas down south there are still players to spark anticipation, in the SPL there’s not. That’s why Robbie Keane was such big news.

But it cannot be left to the Old Firm to rescue themselves and the league, they must be helped.

There is enough to dislike the Rangers and Celtic rivalry – the DaMarcus Beasley fire-bomb this week puts the John Terry scandal in some perspective – but in this instance they merit sympathy.

“The rest”, as they are known, could do with pulling out a finger and generating some excitement of their own. Can a city of Edinburgh’s wealth and prestige not fund one big club? If not, where will the SPL be in 12 months, 24 months? Not where Robbie Keane is, that’s for sure.