THERE are certain types among a highly-judgemental audience who believe Arne Engels should be producing Man of the Match performances every time he steps onto a football pitch.
The reason for the sky-high expectation level is fairly obvious, dear reader. The Belgian midfielder, of course, cost Celtic an awful lot of money, indeed a club record £11million, when he joined on deadline day from Bundesliga club Augsburg.
For that sort of financial outlay, there are some who insist that nothing less than perfection can be tolerated or accepted.
You can normally split these self-appointed authorities on the exponents of the beautiful game into two categories:
The individuals who have been gifted more than their fair share of optimism.
And nincompoops.
If there is anyone out there who reckons spending exorbitant amounts of money guarantees you even a scintilla of success I would suggest an emergency meeting with themselves in an effort to get a grip on reality.
GETTING INTO HIS STRIDE…Arne Engels looking comfortable and in control.
Alternatively, you could ask the bloke who signed the cheques during the glitzy days of Real Madrid’s Galiticos when the Brazilian version of Ronaldo and old Golden Balls himself, David Beckham, strutted their stuff alongside their expensively-assembled colleagues at the Bernabeu.
Or the chief cashier at Paris Saint-Germain who forked out £200million to lure the truculent Neymar from Barcelona. Probably the same negotiator who agreed a basic wage of over £30million per annum in a three-year deal for Lionel Messi to team up the South Americans.
How many Champions League triumphs between the two assemblies of so-called megastars? Zero.
If it was all about a visit to your friendly bank manager and organising a sizeable withdrawal in order to fill your trophy cabinet, Celtic might have been well advised not to bother turning up in the Portuguese capital on a May day back in 1967.
Vast cash reserves do not secure silverware fulfilment in this game.
Arne Engels did not play particularly well during his 68 minutes at Tynecastle on Saturday evening. To be fair to the player, who, please remember, celebrated his 21st birthday only nine days after his move to Scotland, he was not alone in his struggles against a Hearts team that were up for making life difficult in the extreme for the champions.
His engine-room sidekicks, Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate, also toiled against opponents who copied the basic outlook of Kilmarnock, Celtic’s previous opponents, of making sure no-one had the time, space or opportunity to get their head up.
That had been an explicit instruction of the Ayrshire club’s manager Derek McInnes. The Hoops captain, in particular, was targeted and it is to his eternal credit he refused to be engulfed amid the blue-and-white swarms and must have provoked a spitting-feathers reaction from the rival gaffer after putting Brendan Rodgers’ team ahead on the stroke of half-time.
And, yes, the goal carried a massive slice of good fortune, but maybe we can put that down to kismet. Or the welcome intrusion of some other mystical power with a sense of humour.
SHOUT OF ORDER…Arne Engels doesn’t seem to agree with a decision from Nick Walsh.
I am an admitted admirer of Paulo Bernardo and I can understand the clamour for the Portuguese playmaker to start tonight against Club Brugge.
The former Benfica prospect caught the eye during his 20-something minutes against Hearts. At 22, he was brim full of zest and vigour as he bounded onto the field.
At that stage, most of the opposition had expended copious amounts of energy chasing Celtic players all over the field from the first shrill of Steven McLean’s whistle. The sheer physical effort was certain to take its toll on weary legs.
The adventurous Bernardo, so easy on the eye with his galloping gait, took full advantage.
I would be utterly astounded if Engels does not start against his fellow-Belgians. The player is still coping with the expectation levels that have been recently dumped on young shoulders.
You can be certain he will not have experienced anything like the current demands at his former club where success was measured in top-flight survival.
In the words of Rodgers, the man who triggered the move for a performer who has genuine thoroughbred potential, he is “nowhere near the finished article”.
There is still much work to be done before Engels can be expected to consistently take a game by the scruff of the neck and leave his imprint on each and every occasion.
Let’s cut the kid some slack and offer welcome encouragement. It’s the least Arne Engels deserves.
