Internationals, Scott, King Kenny, Willie Ormand

We have one league game, home to Motherwell, before facing Borussia Monchengladbach two weeks tonight, but there is a lot of football to be played before then for many in the squad.

Kolo Toure, Scott Brown and Scott Sinclair will be able to invest some time in building a training base, but the rest of the likely starters will face World Cup qualifiers with their various national teams. We have 18 players away in total and can only hope they return fit and ready.

Motherwell have experienced how difficult Celtic Park can be already this season, so on paper the forthcoming game doesn’t look too pressing, however, things ramp up for Celtic thereafter. The next five games have us home and away to Gladbach, at Hampden for the League Cup semi, and away to Ross County and Aberdeen.

A schedule like this illuminates the wisdom in Scott Brown retiring from international football. Kenny Dalglish, a player who always played for Scotland – apart from when national team manager Willie Ormand dropped him when he was about to eclipse a Rangers player’s run of 44 consecutive caps – believes Scott will regret retiring from international football.

Kenny did it all on the park, and harboured no bitterness at his SFA snub, so it’s harsh to dismiss his view out of hand. But he’s wrong on this one. Mikael Lustig should take note.