DEAD LINE DAY; Celts could come a Moscow cropper if they don't spend.

Byline: Murdo MacLeod 

THE transfer deadline for players eligible to play in Celtic's Champions League qualifier with Dynamo Moscow is 11 o'clock on Thursday night.

It would be a major mistake if the club allowed it to pass without making a significant signing to help Tony Mowbray get over what looks to be a massive hurdle.

A Celtic squad that wasn't good enough to win the SPL last season has not been strengthened sufficiently well and still looks lightweight for what they have in front of them.

On top of everything else they will also be without Scott Brown and Stephen McManus against the Russians because of their injury problems.

But I would maintain the club took the right stance by not getting into a bidding war over Hamilton's James McCarthy once the price went to a couple of million pounds.

That's not a contradiction of my own argument about new signings being necessary.

McCarthy is a fine young player who is getting better all the time but Celtic need someone who is going to make an immediate impact on the team.

Mowbray needs a man of stature who can stand up to, and not retreat from, Moscow.

Last season Rangers paid the price for underestimating Kaunas in the Champions League qualifiers. Celtic need to appreciate that they cannot gamble with their squad going into the two-legged tie with the Muscovites.

Failure to make the second qualifying round, meaning eviction from Europe altogether this season, would be another serious financial blow on top of the reduced television contract that caused Celtic's chairman, John Reid, to lauch into an outburst last week.

Massive It's always the smaller clubs who get the sympathy vote whenever television money comes up but it hurts Celtic every bit as much as anyone else.

The Old Firm have massive overheads that need to be met every year and they were right to express their misgivings about the terms of the deal that has been done with Sky and ESPN.

The general consensus of opinion always seems to be that Celtic have 60,000 people at their home matches so everything must be fine for them. However, that's far from being the case.

There will be a downturn in season ticket sales, corporate hospitality business and merchandising while the recession bites.

Losing out on European cash on top of everything else would be a nightmare.

Time is against them when the transfer deadline is so close and players are getting snapped up elsewhere but Celtic have got to be proactive between now andThursday.

The manager knows the constraints where his budget is concerned and he is unlikely to start spouting negative thoughts at this stage in his reign.

Mowbray was delighted to take charge of Celtic and he must have been told there was little money to be thrown about. That's why he's been trying his best in the market place under difficult circumstances.

The situation he is in reminds me of the time when I joined forces withWim Jansen to manage Celtic 12 years ago.

We'd lost a lot of players, including the Three Amigos of Paolo di Canio, Jorge Cadete and Pierre van Hooijdonk.

Mowbray has watched Shunsuke Nakamura, Paul Hartley, Bobo Balde and JanVennegoor of Hesselink go from the club.

There might not be the same urgency that facedWim and I because nothing is ever likely to match having to stop Rangers from winning 10 in a row but the new man has a lot on his plate.

The big money he has been allowed to spend has gone on a player, Marc-Antoine Fortune, who looks like a gamble up front. A fee of pounds 3.8million is a lot to put out on someone such as that when cash is in short supply.

Landry N'Guemo will have to be judged on what he does on the park during his 12-month loan deal. But there needs to be more signings.

The deadline follows the game against Cardiff onWednesday and that match has to be taken seriously because Europe is just around the corner.

There will be no problems with attitude on Friday when Celtic become the first Scottish club side to play atWembley against the Egyptians Al Ahly.

I was privileged to play there just once in my career, finishing up on the losing side to England after Peter Beardsley had got the only goal of the game at the old place.

It remains one of the highlights of my career and a great moment in my life. It's a special place and the Celtic fans will ensure the atmosphere is brilliant on Friday and against Spurs on Sunday.

The surroundings are so exceptional that these matches won't be your run-of-the-mill pre-season friendlies. They will be competitive and all of the players on view will want their performance level to match the theatre of football they are in.

Prestige But there's a serious dimension to theWembley experience. It'll be the last couple of matches Celtic have before Dynamo Moscow at home.

Qualification for the Champions League, or just making the Europa League, is about prestige and money for Celtic. It's not all right to go out.

That's why steps should be taken, and quickly, to give the manager a helping hand instead of leaving Mowbray a hostage to fate.

Eleven o'clock on Thursday night is the witching hour.

As told to Hugh Keevins

CAPTION(S):

GAMBLING A FORTUNE: Tony Mowbray has taken a huge risk splashing out the largest chunk of his budget on the big striker