Does Rangers Romanian disaster a sign of things to come

sharonorn

As undoubtedly the two biggest teams in Scottish football, Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers have dominated the SPL for almost three decades.Recently, they have both Zach Britton Jersey  also enjoyed succe s in the Uefa Cup  reaching the final of the competition in 2003 and 2008 respectively. But once again this season, they have both failed to transfer their domestic form onto European footballs biggest stage  the Champions League. Celtic failed to qualify for the group stages and are currently in the Europa League, whilst Rangers hopes of progre s were critically damaged by a 4-1 defeat to unknown Romanian side Unirea Urziceni.Walter Smith  under pre sureTheir continued failings on the Champions League front casts serious doubt upon the two Glasgow giants wish to join the Premier League, thus competing with Manchester United and Chelsea on a regular basis. Even Walter Smith, Rangers manager, doubts their ability to compete against Europes best. Weve had a steadine s in terms of domestic results, he told BBC Sport after the embarra sing defeat at Ibrox. But whether we are at a stage where we can hope to compete with the top European clubs, or even the ones below that level, at the present moment Aroldis Chapman Jersey  is up for debate. If we get ourselves together, and with a little bit of luck in games, sometimes we can punch above our weight.Celtics got talent  not even Susan Boyle could inspire the BhoysThe question, however, which must be asked is whether it is good enough for clubs of the stature of Rangers and Celtic to be simply punching above their weight in Europe. These are two clubs, remember, that have shared 94 Scottish titles between them, when no other team has won more than four. Their domestic pedigree, as such, cannot be doubted. So why have either side not made a huge impact upon the Champions League?Kenny Miller: Championship Cameron Maybin Jersey  to Champions LeagueOne po sible answer, and a topic becoming increasingly common in the modern footballing world, is money. The Scottish Premier Leagues highest-placed team (i.e. either Celtic or Rangers) earns around fifteen times le s than the English Premier Leagues lowest in terms of commercial revenue and although big-money sponsorship deals with companies such as Carling, Umbro and Nike undoubtedly boost the Ibrox and Celtic Phil Rizzuto Jersey  Park coffers considerably, there is a definite shortfall.Money, it must be said, can only go so far. Rangers squad against Urziceni still cost a combined fee in exce s of 20million  compared to 1.3m for the visitors.In a roundabout way, the domestic succe s of the two sides has created an appetite, almost an expectancy, for succe s that they are now struggling to fulfil. Players such as Celtics Willo Flood and Kenny Miller of Rangers may be of sufficient quality to mount a challenge for the Scottish Premier League, but the Champions League is another level Roger Maris Jersey . Players such as Miller, Madjid Bouggherra and Kyle Lafferty made names for themselves in the English Football League before moving north of the border  and expecting a seamle s transition from Championship to Champions League will see both teams continuing to struggle for years to come.