“It is an attitude of mind,” Ray Harford, the Rovers manager, said. “They need to want to be better, but some players think ‘I have a million [pounds] in the bank, why bother to work harder?’ “The next examination of Rovers’ technique will be in Poland, against Legia Warsaw, in three weeks’ time. Eric Cantona’s desire to practice his skills after training came as a shock to several Manchester United players. Nor do they seem to spend much time honing their technique – not that this failing is restricted to Rovers. If this is the practice at Rovers, it is not apparent in their play. However, as Norway’s World Cup proved, such a limited style only works against limited opposition. One former Liverpool player said after the match that, during Liverpool’s years of European glory, you could waste half-a-dozen good chances in training and not receive a fraction of the “bollocking” dished out for wasting possession.

In the end they played neither the passing nor the hoofing game, but fell between the two.Egil Olsen, who manages the Norwegian national team, said they should have stuck to the long-ball game. It does not say much for the Carling Premiership.The key, as ever, was Rovers’ inability to hold possession. They did make some attempt to adapt their game, but once the ball was moved into midfield David Batty and Tim Sherwood had few options to play with, and even less likelihood of realising them. Even Spartak Moscow, the section’s best side, are some way short of that standard. The likes of Ajax and Juventus will not be examining the results of Group B with any great concern. Rovers were disjointed without the ball and short of ideas with it Playing three central strikers was naive. It deprived Rovers of numbers in midfield and width in attack.It is not as if Trondheim were a particularly good side The first half- hour was more chumps than Champions’ League.

While self-belief is an important element in any successful player’s make-up, so is self-awareness. Yet, on Wednesday night, Alan Shearer insisted that Rovers were as good as Trondheim, that the 2-1 result did not accurately reflect the teams’ abilities.He was right – but only to the extent that it should have been 4-1. GLENN MOORE

The most frustrating part of Blackburn Rovers’ Champions’ League campaign is not so much their performances but their stubborn refusal to learn.
Twice they have been comfortably outplayed – against Spartak Moscow and, on Wednesday, Rosenborg Trondheim – only to emerge apparently convinced that they have just had an off day. Celtic also took off their foreign imports, Thom and Pierre Van Hooijdonk.Andy Walker, the substitute, missed a glorious chance to score when he saw a 76th-minute penalty saved by the keeper, but in the final minute he atoned, scoring Celtic’s fourth goal.Celtic (4-4-2): Marshall; Vata, Hughes, Boyd, McKinlay; Donnelly (Hay, 56), McStay, Grant, McLaughlin; Thom (Gray, 71), Van Hooijdonk (Walker, 62).Dynamo Batumi (4-4-2): Togonidze; Shanidze, Shekiladze, Makharadze, Mindadze; Phutkaradze (Glonti, 60), Torgashuili, Kantidze (Makharadze, 45), Mujiri; Ujmajuridze, Tugushi.Referee: G T Orrason (Iceland).. Simon Donnelly, who has revelled in the additional space available to him since his conversion from a striking role to midfield, drove forward with the ball at his feet before firing in a powerful 30-yard shot off the underside of the crossbar.The goal was a final effort from Donnelly before he was taken off to a hero’s reception to ensure, no doubt, his fitness for tomorrow’s Old Firm game. As the new Celtic Park hosted its first European tie, Collins was left to watch the action from the stands, fuelling speculation that he will shortly be leaving the club he has served for five years.It would be stretching the imagination to suggest Celtic turned back the clock to those classic European nights, but this was a comfortable win against a mediocre team.We will have to wait until a better class of opposition visits Glasgow before Celtic’s hopes of progressing in Europe can be properly assessed but there are signs of the regeneration of Celtic under Tommy Burns.With Brian McLaughlin performing like a latter day Jimmy Johnstone, tricking his way past defenders, and Andreas Thom providing a sharp cutting edge their partnership tore holes in the Batumi defence allowing Celtic to settle the tie virtually within 20 minutes.Thom sank a powerful downward header past Nikoloz Togonidze, a fragile- looking goalkeeper, from Tosh McKinlay’s free-kick in the 18th minute, and two minutes later the crowd rose to acclaim a goal of real class.McLaughlin skipped past two challenges before lifting a teasing ball into the path of the incoming Thom whose firm header left the goalkeeper helpless.Within two minutes of the restart Celtic had increased their lead.

DAVID MCKINNEY

reports from Celtic Park
Celtic 4 Dynamo Batumi 0 (Celtic win 7-2 on aggregate)If we should know more about Celtic’s immediate prospects in the Cup- Winners’ Cup at the second-round draw in Geneva today the future is less certain for John Collins, their skilful midfield player. He will not, however, be able to call upon Roy McDonough, the former Colchester player-manager, who was released from his playing contract at Dagenham before Carr’s arrival for disciplinary reasons, following several red cards.. “Carr has been successful in the Conference and, given time, we’re sure he’ll do a good job for us.”Carr has brought in two defenders, Paul Hague from Gillingham and Mark Wells from Scarborough, both on loan. Before that he managed Northampton, Blackpool, Maidstone, Dartford and Nuneaton.”Dave Cusack had done a good job but we’d hit bad times,” David Andrews, Dagenham’s chairman, said last night. Graham Carr, who quit Weymouth to replace Dave Cusack at the east London club, left Kettering in the summer after three seasons in charge there. Non-League notebook

RUPERT METCALF
Although the GM Vauxhall Conference season is not much more than a month old, the pressure of life at the wrong end of the table has already forced the bottom two clubs to change their manager.Dover Athletic, who have gained only three points from nine games, turned to Peter Taylor, the former England and Crystal Palace winger and Southend United manager, this week – a few days after Dagenham and Redbridge, one place and two points better off than Dover, installed their new man.Although Taylor, who succeeds John Ryan, has some non-League management experience, his record cannot compare to the Daggers’ choice. Funnily enough, after the talk linking Ferdinand, Collymore and Gascoigne to Villa, many in the Midlands saw his arrival as proof that Little and Ellis could not cut it in the market.”I’m not the sort of personality or player who’s going to spark a rush on season tickets,” Southgate admits “But I am consistent.

Managers know what they’re getting, which is why Brian Little bought me.”. He sets very high standards and I say to the young lads: ‘Watch him work, watch him train’. There’s an honesty and passion about the way he plays, but he also has excellent technical ability.”Which prompts the thought (whisper it to Mr Noades) that he left Selhurst too cheaply. Nor does he rule out the possibility of a return to midfield. His assessment – and this is a phlegmatic man – reads like a memo to Terry Venables.”Gareth’s a terrific pro: versatile, reliable, mature. I won’t play with many like him.”Little envisages a time when Southgate uses his McGrath-like radar for anticipating danger as the middle man at the back. As mild mannered as he is off the pitch, however, he remains “quite vociferous” on it.