Give the Old Firm pounds 100m to buy stars THEN judge us in Europe; SAYS STEPHEN McMANUS.

Byline: GARY RALSTON

STEPHEN McMANUS reckons debates on the state of Scottish football are not worth tuppence unless a sugar daddy steps forward with a couple of hundred million of investment.

The Celtic skipper is tiring of the endless navel-gazing about the decline in standards as our clubs struggle to make an impact at the highest level.

Celtic aim to haul their Europa League campaign back on track tonight against Rapid Vienna, a fortnight after they slumped to a surprise 2-1 defeat at Hapoel Tel Aviv.

It was the latest in a line of disappointing results for our clubs in Europe after early exits by Motherwell, Falkirk, Aberdeen and Hearts.

McManus also put his feet up at home on Tuesday night and watched Sunday rivals Rangers routed 4-1 by Sevilla but no smug smile of satisfaction crossed his lips. Most Scottish sport fans are more familiar with the work of former world boxing champion Pat Clinton than American politician Bill.

However, as he reflected on the chasm between our clubs and the rest McManus paraphrased the former US president when he told critics:"It's the economy, stupid."

Now McManus has called on the critics to take a step back and see the wider picture of financial featherweights trying to compete with the moneyed giants of the game.

The Scotland defender said: "The gap is widening because of financial resources and that's plain for everyone to see if they look at the evidence of the last few years.

"However, the gap would be even greater if we weren't involved in these tournaments such as the Champions and Europa leagues.

"In this nation as a whole everything is always negative and that can be a bit boring for all involved.

"Everyone would love to sit back and say Celtic and Rangers are two great sides and the Scotland team is great as well. The players and managers are only trying to do their best and no one can ever be disrespectful to you for that.

"You can only play the cards you're dealt and it would be a much more level playing field if you gave Celtic and Rangers pounds 50-pounds 100 million each and then asked them to compete.

"But who is to say Rangers won't make the last 16 of the Champions League? Let's wait and see.Who's to say we can't progress in this competition? "No one can take the reputation we've earned as a club in recent years away from us. Martin O'Neill's teams really helped put Celtic on the map - the Lisbon Lions apart - because not too many of our side had played at the top end of European competition in the years immediately before.

"These were exciting days. I was there as a kid, I watched these great games as we went all the way to the UEFA Cup Final.

Special

"Gordon Strachan took over and we kept our run going, into the last 16 of the Champions League, with a bit of luck along the way. That's what makes these European nights so special.

"Now we've entered a new era with a new manager, coaching staff and some new players in a new tournament. We want to give it our best shot and give ourselves something to be proud of and if it doesn't happen we'll look back and learn from it."

These are more straitened financial times for Scottish football and there's a Catch-22 facing clubs who can't win at this level and find the national co-efficient takes a battering as a result, restricting their opportunities to qualify in future.

Celtic have punched above their weight in recent years which made their tame surrender in Tel Aviv all the more surprising as they gave up a one goal first-half lead to eventually lose 2-1. McManus is keen to make amends against the Austrians this evening and certainly does not underestimate the quality of the new UEFA competition.

He said: "I'd rather be playing the Champions League every year. I'm sure it's the same at Ibrox and you saw how Rangers fans reacted to the music the other night.

"The top players are in the Champions League but there are also some really good operators in this Europa League and we're in a tough group.

"You know when you enter the Champions League there's a pretty good chance you won't win it but we want to go for as long as possible and perform at a good level.

"Winning against Rapid is most important as it would take us to three points in the section. Hopefully, Hamburg will also beat Hapoel and we'd all be on the same points.

"But we know we must perform better against Rapid than we did at St Mirren at the weekend. We want to get better as a team because we know the demands here are to win every game and competition we enter."

Quizzed

McManus had not long celebrated his second birthday the last time Rapid came to town in 1984 in that now infamous CupWinners' Cup tie against the Hoops.

He has been quizzed relentlessly about the past since the draw was made in August but he doesn't want to know.

Thecentre-halfsaid:"It'sembarrassing the way it has all kicked off. I don't know anything about the last game and none of the players here now was involved. "We're only concentrating on the game in which we're involved and aren't interested in anything else. Everywhere you go someone wants to talk about the past but it was 25 years ago so I'll leave that to others.

"Celtic Park is a great stage to play on and we pride ourselves on our home performances because our away results in Europe have not been great.

"This is our time and we want to put smiles on the faces of our punters and go home, sit back and think how well we played as individuals and as a team.

"I'm not very aware of Rapid as a club but we know from their 3-0 defeat of Hamburg in the last match they're a good side.

"They hit on the counter and that's always difficult to play against but we certainly believe we can win."

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SETTING SALE: McManus can't wait for tonight's showdown