Alan Thompson: you need the Champions League to bring back the players

The Hoops kicks off their quest to make into the group stages of Europe’s premier club tournament on the 12th or 13th July, with a further two rounds to get through before they can get a foot into group stages.

Success has eluded Celtic in the previous two summers but Thompson, who signed for Celtic in 2000 when Martin O’Neill took him from Aston Villa to the club for just under £3m, believes that the allure of playing in Scotland has faded – and the carrot of the Champions League is vital to attract quality to the club.

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“I do think that the club doesn’t carry the same appeal that it did in previous times,” he said. “It is so much harder to get players to go up to Scotland. I know that from my own time.

“When I was there you had Neil Lennon, John Hartson and Chris Sutton. Players who had all made their name in the Premiership before going to Celtic but we all know that has gone entirely.

“Celtic’s name is just as big as it ever was. And I understand how frustrating that is but when it all boils down to the fact that players can get tenfold what they can earn south of the border than they can in Glasgow, then it is very difficult.

“The one thing you have that can make people sit up and take notice is the Champions League. You get in there and you are guaranteed a cracking six games against good, top-level opposition.

“These are the games that put you back on the map. These are the games that everyone takes notice of. Since the days of Martin, the club has done not too badly in the competition. But it is two seasons without it, and it is two too many.

“You have simply got to get there at any cost. For players, it is something of a holy grail. For a young player who is maybe weighing up other options, I know for a fact that it has a lot of pulling power.”

Thompson has seen the qualifiers from the perspective of player and coach. He was there in the squirming, intense heat as Gordon Strachan’s side lost 5-0 to Artmedia Bratislava but he was pivotal on the park when Celtic went about restoring their European reputation under O’Neill.

He was on the training ground with Lennon when the Parkhead side got through qualifying rounds against Helsinki and Helsingborg to get into the group stages and he is well placed to understand the pressures of the early rounds.

“We all know the difficulties of playing early games,” he acknowledged. “But I don’t think it is any exaggeration to say that these are the most important games of the season. It really does underpin everything.

“The lift you get from making it into the Champions League proper, is something else. As a player it is where you want to be, and the same goes across the board – for managers, coaches – everyone. The prestige of being in there in that company bolsters the entire club, and I don’t think you can downplay the significance of the financial side of things either.

“It is a boost in every way and at the same time if you don’t get there it is excruciating. I think sometimes when you fail to make it, it takes a few months before you really shake off that disappointment. It can linger.”

One of the features that irked about Ronny Deila’s regime was the Norwegian’s rigidity to a system that went with one out and out striker. Brendan Rodgers has checked into Celtic Park with a reputation for setting out his teams to play in a certain attacking vein that should draw respect from the punters inside the ground, but Thompson was insistent that the bottom line comes down to whether or not the players on the pitch are good enough.

“It is players who win you games, not systems,” he said. “You have to have players who understand each other, who gel together and have a certain chemistry on the pitch. That Celtic team I played in had Henrik Larsson and Chris Sutton who had an incredible understanding. Yet, it wasn’t something hey slaved away on.

“It was there and it was there largely because they were two very intelligent footballers. They understood their roles but also there was a level of trust between them, between all of us. You need that. You need to know that the players around you will run through a brick wall if they have to to get you the win.

“But ultimately, if you want to be successful in Europe and get yourself back into the company of the Barcelonas and Real Madrids then you need to be bringing good footballers into the club. If you have a good manager at the helm – and I have a lot of respect for Brendan although I don’t know him personally – then the rest of it clicks together.”