Celtic F.C

Celtic told they’ve landed a Champions League upgrade as Rangers warned over possible UEFA punishment

Published

1 week ago

November 12, 2024

Scottish champions Celtic are in outstanding form. They are leading the domestic standings with a nearly perfect record of 10 wins and 1 draw from 11 games, and they are also on track to earn a play-off finish at the halfway point of the league phase in Europe with seven Champions League points out of a possible 12.

Pundit Michael Stewart thinks that this season is a completely different scenario because of Celtic’s clever summer transfer window tactics. In previous years, Celtic has frequently struggled to adapt their dominant domestic play into the European arena.

In total, manager Brendan Rodgers added eight new players, and Stewart said that Auston Trusty, a former Sheffield United player, was the best addition to improve the team’s chances of qualifying for Europe.

Speaking to the Scottish Football Social Club, Stewart waxed poetic over the USA international’s defensive prowess, saying: “The beauty about Trusty as well, (he’s) predominantly left-sided, but we’ve seen him with Scales, he is comfortable enough to go and play on that right-hand side.”

“Liam Scales has performed brilliantly; you wouldn’t hesitate to watch him play because he and Trusty were both excellent when they played together against Atalanta in Bergamo.

“But even though Scales has been excellent, it was the position where people were looking at Celtic and thinking that it would be very good for Europe if they could improve.”Trusty’s athleticism currently works well for that Celtic team and appears to be beneficial to them in Europe.

Since joining the Hoops from Bramall Lane, Trusty has started ten league games and has been on the winning team eight times. His club has maintained five clean sheets throughout that time,

Rangers ‘at risk’ of UEFA punishment

Football expert Dan Plumley has told Ibrox News that Rangers must take better control of their outgoing costs after publishing a £17.2m pre-tax loss.

Plumey believes Rangers are steering dangerously close to breaking UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules and has urged the clubs to act with caution.

Currently, 85 percent of outgoing revenue can be used for player wages and amortization under the Financial Fair Play standards set by European football’s governing body. However, the amended guidelines aim to reduce it to 70 percent.
Clubs have a maximum of five years to amortize transfer costs in their accounts, according to the regulating body. Currently, violations of UEFA’s FFP regulations can result in fines, prize money withholding, transfer bans, or exclusion from European competitions.

Plumey told the outlet: “One other interesting takeaway linked to the European side of things and UEFA’s new regulations. Their football cost at the minute loosely from what we can see in the accounts, player wages and player amortisation is about 85 per cent of revenue, and we know that UEFA are looking at getting that marker down to 70 per cent by the 2025-26 season. So, there is a little bit of work to do there and be mindful of the cost.”