Let Celtic take on English clubs in the League Cup

Dermot Desmond’s boast about Celtic’s supremacy doesn’t add up.

Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond might claim his side are the best-performing club in Britain on and off the pitch.

But while the Parkhead outfit are performing superbly well, the bottom line is they’ll never challenge Europe’s leading clubs unless they somehow manage to bank a more lucrative TV deal.

For that to happen, they would need to join another league. And as much as I’d love to see it happen, I just can’t see them ever managing to play in England. So Celtic are always going to be up against it.

Are the Hoops, as Desmond suggests, outperforming every other club in Britain at the moment? I’m not so sure.

Comparing Celtic to teams in England is just so difficult. Clubs in England, with nowhere near the fan base of Celtic, earn so much more because of the TV money they receive. Therefore, they can also pay players higher wages.

Look at Arsenal. They are in a wonderful place financially, with a squad of highly-paid and highly-talent individuals. But they haven’t won anything.

Desmond is certainly right in the sense that Celtic, for what they are working with, are doing brilliantly. They are winning the title, qualifying for the Champions League and are banking serious money.

They are, however, now having difficulty in filling Celtic Park for domestic matches. The fact that Rangers are not in the top flight right now might be a factor.

There is no doubt Celtic are so far ahead of every other Scottish club it’s frightening. So possibly more so than ever before, they need a fresh challenge.

One suggestion I’ve heard which I think is a fantastic idea is to invite Celtic to take part in the English League Cup. I’d be in complete favour of that. It makes sense for various reasons.

Has the competition lost its appeal over the years? Yes, it has. I don’t think anyone can argue with that.

Manchester City won it last weekend by defeating Sunderland in the Final, but more and more leading clubs are failing to take it seriously. It’s almost as though it is an unwanted distraction for many of them.

The leading six or seven clubs are focusing on trying to win the title and the Champions League, while teams in the bottom half of the table are more interested in avoiding relegation than trying to win silverware.

Having Celtic in the competition would make it so much more interesting and, if that went well, it might open doors to eventually joining the English leagues.

So Desmond is right to praise Celtic for the position they are in just now, but I feel it is going to get tougher and tougher for them unless there is increased revenue from somewhere to help take them to the next level.

If that’s not from playing in England in some shape or form, your guess where the cash will come from is as good as mine.