Unrest at Celtic and Rangers who is to blame?

Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan.

There is a queue to claim responsibility for victory. But who fathered the failure that has led to Celtic and Rangers supporters revolting against their respective Boards?

The Parkhead powerbrokers have been accused of not spending enough cash, while the Rangers moneymen are again in the dock over their over-spending.

Celtic’s Champions League failure during the week prompted fierce criticism in the direction of Chief Executive, Peter Lawwell. His crime? Failing to invest enough in the team in the eyes of the Hoops hordes, and putting profits before performances.

But just as the Light Blue legions were revelling in their rival’s European disappointment, the tables were quickly turned as fresh fears over the long-term future of the Ibrox club once again emerged. They have launched a fresh share issue, and laid bare the full extent of their latest financial woes by painting a very bleak picture if they don’t hit their £4 million target.

On a same day that Lawwell attempted to justify the way Celtic have gone about their business in recent years, it was the news across the city which sent a louder and more meaningful message.

Sitting in a dressing-room at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training base, Lawwell faced up to his critics and came out fighting. He pointed out his 11 years at the club have delivered seven Championships, seven Champions League campaigns and seen Celtic progress to the last 16 of Europe’s premier competition on another three occasions. In that time, both Rangers and Hearts have gone bust.

When it is put like that, it is difficult to argue with Lawwell.

Rangers, meanwhile, have been lurching from one catastrophe to another. Sir David Murray’s gross mismanagement was the beginning of the problems before Craig Whyte ran the club into administration and prompted the Charles Green shambles.

Now, with yet another new Board and a different Chief Executive, Rangers are no further on. In fact, they are in as bad a state as they ever have been.

But while Lawwell was willing to fight his corner, the Light Blues’ Board continues to run for cover. They’ve still not explained where all the money of a previous share issue has gone, and are asking once again for fans to dig deep.

Once again, it was left to manager Ally McCoist to face the music over the latest revelations and no-one can blame him for refusing to deal with such an issue.

Usually famed for his famous one-liners and jocular nature, the Ibrox boss was infuriated when his request not to be burdened with off-the-field questions was ignored.

He did much to be proud of when Rangers first hit the financial buffers. His ‘We don’t do walking away’ became a mantra for the support. But he’s not exempt from criticism at the part he has played in the running of the club while they’ve been in Scottish football’s lower echelons.

While the entire world is aware of the financial difficulties of the Ibrox club, and the potential problems in the pipeline, McCoist has continually talked about bolstering his squad. He’ll argue it’s the job of every manager to try and get the best players in for the supporters. But surely at some stage there has to be an acceptance of the situation?

He’s assembled a squad no other club in the country with the exception of Celtic could afford. He’s signed Premier League players yet not managed to get Premier League performances from them.

‘The Journey’, as it was described, was supposed to pave the way for a host of top young talent within the Ibrox club to make their mark but only Lewis McLeod has done so.

And how can the Board justify the summer signings of Kenny Miller and Kris Boyd, no doubt on substantial salaries, whilst knowing there is barely enough money in the club’s coffers to get through the season?

Again, the irony is it’s the opposite complaint at the club that does have money, Celtic. Lawwell controls the purse strings and he simply can’t cut costs season after season and expect the same level of quality on the pitch.

He doesn’t think much of the phrase ‘speculate to accumulate’. But by failing to go that extra mile, which clearly wouldn’t risk the long-term future of the club, he has put himself in the firing line.

Celtic have paid the price for not paying the price. There were 55,000 pairs of eyes at Celtic Park on Tuesday who could see their team lacked, among other things, a striker of strength and quality.

Prior to their second Champions League exit, the current manager, Ronny Deila, hadn’t spent a single penny on a transfer fee. That, quite simply, isn’t good enough.

One man who seems to be escaping criticism but shouldn’t is Celtic’s Chief Scout, John Park. He has earned Celtic millions by spotting the likes of Victor Wanyama and Ki Sung-yueng, buying low and selling on high. More profits will come when Virgil van Dijk is sold on. But the long list of flops is endless. Derk Boerrigter, Amido Balde, Teemu Pukki and Mohamed Bangura all cost reasonable money which Celtic will never be able to claw back.

The contrasting stories of both clubs and supporters were summed up nicely by Lawwell as he pondered contacting Rangers counterpart Graham Wallace.

“I was thinking of saying to him: ‘Once you sort all this rubbish and are on the track, in eight years’ time if you win the title eight times and are in the Champions League seven times, you have all this to look forward to.’

I don’t think he was joking.