The Big Interview Peter Grant

“What Celtic need now is their own Ryan Gauld.”

In over a decade playing for Celtic, Peter Grant never shirked a challenge.

And in the wake of his former club’s European exit, he now calls for the Hoops to show the same boldness of approach off the park as he used to display on it.

The wounding Champions League losses to Milan and Ajax have prompted many fans to bemoan the fact the Hoops can’t compete financially with the continent’s rich elite.

Rather than gazing enviously outside the country’s shores, Grant believes they should be looking just 67 miles up the road.

Specifically to Tannadice, where one of Celtic’s Seville stalwarts, Jackie McNamara, is leading a Dundee United side bristling with young domestic talent.

“I think what is going on in Dundee is an inspiring story,” says the former Norwich City boss, who was in the Celtic side on the wrong end of a 5-1 scoreline against Neuchatel Xamax in 1991.

“United have a really exciting team with an average age in the early 20s, which all football fans are enjoying watching.

“Best of all, the ones attracting all the attention are Scottish kids, who have come through United’s youth system.

“I have seen Ryan Gauld, Stuart Armstrong and John Souttar play, and personally I think they are worth the hype.

“Gauld in particular, has very good assets for a young player.

“United deserve huge credit for developing them through from pre-teens to first-team level.

“When you have got the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United coming up to watch your players, you are clearly doing something very right.

“I have heard Celtic fans calling for the club to go out and buy these United stars. There was even one who said they should buy Gauld, Souttar and Gary Mackay-Steven for a combined total of £3million!

“What I want to see, though, is not Celtic buying Ryan Gauld but bringing the NEXT Ryan Gauld through their system.

“I don’t think there is any question that there are lots of talented kids in their system. Look at the number of honours they win at the age-group levels.

“We all know the difference between Celtic and the other SPL sides. They HAVE to win the title, they HAVE to compete in Europe and they have the money to go out and recruit foreign stars.

“OK, we are maybe not talking about the big, big names the English clubs can attract, but certainly internationalists on wages of a number of thousand pounds a week.”

Yet while the imports may have the skills to do a job straight away, Grant argues their use hinders the chances of kids from the youth system.

“I think we all know the financial struggles Scottish football clubs have been through,” he continued.

“Many of them have had to make very deep cuts, especially on players’ wages, but a welcome by-product of that has been the emergence of so many good young Scottish kids.

“They are at an early stage of their development, so of course they are comparatively cheap.

“Would the likes of United, Hearts and Aberdeen have pushed their kids through so early if they didn’t have to? I don’t think so.

Their use does carry an amount of risk, however, something which the Celtic management are only too aware of.

“Listen, you know what you are going to get from kids,” said the 48-year-old Grant.

“They are keen and enthusiastic with loads of energy. But they don’t have the experience of producing to a level, week in, week out.

“Their form can dip and when that happens they can struggle to lift it again.

“That is when the coaches earn their money. There is a great skill in knowing when to take someone out of the team and when to put them back in.

“You look at the way Sir Alex Ferguson has handled the careers of his stars over the years.

“Time and time again he has brought young players in a way that best allows them to develop.

“I know Neil Lennon is as enthusiastic as anyone about the promotion of home-developed talent.

“He was coach of the Celtic youth team before he took over the first team and was quick to give James Forrest his chance.

“James has had his injury problems, but he is still an excellent young player. He is only 22 years old so, all being well, we would hope to see him prominent for club and country for many years to come.

“James is not the only one, either. Tony Watt guaranteed his place in history when scoring the winner against Barcelona last year. Since then he has had his problems and gone out on loan to Belgium.

“I’m not saying Celtic are against playing young players, rather that circumstances tend to stop them making it their real focus. That is what I would really like to see.

“With Rangers out of the League, and Celtic out of Europe, I would love to see them put out teams with not one or two under-21-year-olds in the team, but five or six.

“That would take bravery because when you do that it doesn’t always go right. You can lose games through it, but you need to keep the support with you.

“When it goes right, as it is doing at Dundee United, it is one of the most rewarding things you can get in football.

“For managers, as well as fans.”