Celtic wallow in the luxury of signing Loovens

Strachan is reminded of the merits of McManus and Caldwell as Dutch defender jets in to aid competition

CELTIC, having already poached Glenn Loovens from under the nose of their rivals, could now add insult to Rangers' injury by keeping the powerful Dutch centre-half in reserve. Gordon Strachan claims he has yet to speak to Loovens as the details of his transfer from Cardiff City continue to be ironed out, but when he does there will be no guarantee of first-team football included in the manager's welcoming speech.

Loovens will be aware he has a job on hands to oust either Stephen McManus or Gary Caldwell. The former is club skipper and the latter is a regular recipient of Strachan praise. Indeed, the manager yesterday described Caldwell as Celtic's best player since March, and the defender himself welcomed the challenge posed by Loovens' arrival. There was no mistaking the confidence in his assertion that "it's up to you to show people that you deserve to be playing". Caldwell has already won over the Parkhead crowd and is not about to be cowed by a competitor for his shirt.

In addition, Caldwell and McManus have also this week been compared to the formidable former Aberdeen and Scotland centre-half partnership of Alex McLeish and Willie Miller by current Scotland manager George Burley. It's clear that if Loovens wished to be handed a more straightforward route to first-team football then he ought to have chosen Rangers, with Carlos Cuellar having departed Ibrox earlier this week.

Strachan revealed that Loovens had been on the club's radar for some time, a comment perhaps aimed at those who are suspicious of Celtic's motives in a week when their current dominance over Rangers has been re-asserted in bold terms. The Ibrox side have lost their best player and yesterday had also to endure further proof of Celtic's robust health, with the release of the club's impressive financial results for the year to 30 June. Making it another week to forget for Rangers is Loovens' decision to pick Celtic ahead of the Ibrox club, who had done most of the running in the chase for his signature.

Strachan pointed out that a club with pretensions to be competitive in the Champions League must have four quality centre-halves to choose from at least. The continued stand-off between Bobo Balde and Celtic has left the team short in that department, and Strachan was delighted to have won the race to sign Loovens. He said the player had "really wanted to come". Just as important a consideration was the defender's ability to play the ball from the back.

"It is imperative that everyone in your team can pass the ball," said Strachan. "If they don't then it breaks the flow of your passing movements. We are delighted he's here."

The considerable fee paid for Loovens, believed to be in the region of £2.5 million, does not make his claim for a first-term berth a more compelling one. Strachan recalled signing a Romanian striker when he was manager at Coventry for a large fee, and yet watched as the strikers already on the books raised their game to a level which made it impossible to leave them out.

"I signed a guy called Viorel Moldovan for £3.5 million ten years ago and he couldn't get a game for Dion Dublin and Darren Huckerby, who we eventually sold for £7.5 million and £5 million pounds."

Strachan again hailed Caldwell as Celtic prepare to face Dundee United at Tannadice Park tomorrow, the scene of their third successive title win last season. He described the centre-half as having been the most consistent player in the run-up to the title, and paid tribute to Caldwell's ability to excel when the going got tough. Caldwell managed to reach a high level of performance despite the high stakes and the often harsh criticism meted out from the stands.

"For one reason or another Gary Caldwell is not everybody's favourite but, without doubt, when the real pressure was on he was our best player," stressed Strachan. "We can all play when the sun is shining and the team are 3-0 up, but Gary Caldwell was the man who played when it mattered and that made a huge difference."

"I said to him when he went to right-back that, whatever happened, he would never be judged by me as a right-back because he was doing us a favour. It's all about players' attitudes when they move positions. For some it is too much for them. Some feel sorry for themselves, and some don't want to do it. But he did it without feeling sorry for himself.

"Even the crowd now are saying, 'what a good player you are'. The brave players will play when I want them to pass the ball. Guys like Gary, and also Paul Telfer, are like that."

Caldwell will be in his usual place next to McManus tomorrow. Shunsuke Nakamura, meanwhile, is in line for a recall after recovering from a hernia operation. Barry Robson is struggling to turn out against his former club after coming down with a virus.

Caldwell dismissed those who voiced concerns about the standard of Celtic's play in the 1-0 win over St Mirren as they began the defence of their title last Sunday. "It's always a tiring pre-season, with a lot of games and a lot of hard work," he said.

"And then you come into a competitive game and people think you should be firing on all cylinders. But it's not always the case. It's a long season and you have to be ready for the whole ten months of it. Sometimes it takes a while to really hit form."