WHEN the clock strikes midnight tonight two of the most expensive outcasts in Scottish football history will finally quit the SPL.

WHEN the clock strikes midnight tonight two of the most expensive outcasts in Scottish football history will finally quit the SPL.

Bobo Balde will part company with Celtic after spending the last few years banking major money despite being banished from the first team by Gordon Strachan.

And it was pretty much the same story for Brahim Hemdani across the city at Old Firm rivals Rangers.

The Ibrox club haemorrhaged money on the frozen-out midfielder who fell out of favour with manager Walter Smith.

To pay such vast sums of cash into a player's bank account on a weekly basis when they are doing the business is one thing - to do it when they aren't playing any part made it even tougher for both clubs to accept.

Last season, Balde failed to make one top-team appearance for the Parkhead club despite the team being short of numbers at the back when Stephen McManus' season ended prematurely through injury.

Earning a staggering £28,000-a-week, Celtic would have shelled out just short of £1.5m for Balde simply to sit on the sidelines.

It's understood he would also have pocketed a lump sum as part of a loyalty bonus for seeing out his contract.

And, at a time when Rangers were facing huge financial struggles and having to look to offload players to balance the books, Hemdani - on £18,000-a-week - pocketed just shy of £900,000 without kicking a ball in anger.

So who is to blame for such exorbitant sums being shelled out without the clubs getting anything in return?

Quite simply, both clubs have paid the price for changing manager. From the outset, Strachan didn't fancy Balde. And there was no way he was going to include him in his team just to justify his wages.

The way he saw it Balde wasn't his problem. He wasn't his signing, he wasn't offered the deal when he was manager and the manager didn't believe he was good enough to play in his team.

It was the same story with Hemdani at Rangers. The season before, Smith called upon his experience during their Uefa Cup run, but he rarely featured for domestic games.

And, last summer, he was told there would be no place for him in the team.

But his situation was never like Balde's in the sense that it didn't become personal. It's fair to say, however, there was no love lost between Balde and Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell.

A Celtic insider revealed: "It was pretty evident from early on that there was a major breakdown between Bobo and the bosses at Celtic.

"He wanted to play and believed he was good enough to play, but he was bitterly disappointed at the way he was treated. It will be interesting to see if he reveals all now that his contract has expired."

So how will Balde be remembered by the green and white legions as he prepares to try and kick-start his career elsewhere?

Naturally, some Celtic fans feel the defender has bled the club by refusing to move on even though he has been offered the opportunity - on more than one occasion - to move to England.

Others, however, will have sympathy for him. Balde became a cult hero during Martin O'Neill's time and, when he signed a long-term lucrative contract, he thought he was going to spend the best years of his career at the club.

And when the Celtic board sanctioned such a massive contract for Balde they obviously believed he was worth it.

Had another manager come in and appreciated what he brought to the team then it might have been a different story.

Unlike Balde, Hemdani left with Rangers' best wishes. Manager Walter Smith added: "Brahim has been a model professional even though he wasn't playing and I'd like to wish him all the best for the future."

One thing is certain, both clubs will not offer lucrative long-term contracts in a hurry unless they are more than convinced they will get value for money.

BOBO'S BOUNTY

Season 08/09
Appearances - none

Season 07/08
Appearances - four
360 minutes of action
£3611 per minute
£325,000 per game

Season 06/07
Appearances - 10
849 minutes of action
£1531 per minute
£130,000 a game

BRAHIM'S BULLION

Season 08/09
Appearances - none

Season 07/08
Appearances - 35
17 of them in Europe

£4m in wages and bonuses for 107 starts over four years
£37,383 per appearance.