Ralston has the respect of Celtic fans, but we can do better.

Yesterday at Hampden, Tony Ralston did more than turn in a good performance. He scored an excellent goal, and as always with these things, it has opened up the familiar debate about whether he has a role at Celtic going forward.

These are the kinds of debates that hurt my head and, if I’m honest, hurt my heart a little bit too. Because deep down, you do want to see Tony Ralston become a proper first-team player at Celtic. You want him to be that guy. He came through the system, he understands the club, he gives everything, and there is something very easy to like about him.

But he is not going to become an elite-level Celtic player.

We all know that.

That is what makes the debate difficult.

Football does this all the time. A much-maligned player has a good game, or scores an important goal, and suddenly the whole argument starts again. People ask whether we have been too harsh, whether he has been underappreciated, whether there is more there than we thought. We saw it with Mikey Johnston for far too long. We are seeing bits of it now with Johnny Kenny because of his scoring record at Bolton, and because some people are still talking about players not getting a proper chance.

Nobody can say that about Ralston and be taken seriously.

Tony Ralston has had chances. Plenty of them. Celtic have never been shy about giving opportunities to players like him. In fact, part of the problem is that the club is too willing to do exactly that, because it saves spending money on players who could come in and raise the level properly.

That is why players like Liam Scales and Dane Murray are still around the first-team squad. Needs must. They are fit. They are available. They can do a job. But “can do a job” should not be confused with “good enough to build around”.

Ralston is a squad player. The question is not whether he is a decent squad player. He is. The question is whether Celtic can do better than Tony Ralston.

And that is where I find these debates tiring, because everyone knows the answer.

Yes, we can.

Once we accept that, the next obvious question is simple. Why don’t we?

I do not think it is disrespectful to look at a player, assess his limitations and conclude that Celtic can improve on him. That is not sacrilege. That is not cruelty. That is football. On the contrary, if you refuse to be honest about that kind of thing, you do the club a disservice, because you are asking the manager to keep players for the wrong reasons.

That is where sentimentality becomes dangerous.

The idea that Ralston has been denied proper respect is not entirely accurate either. Most Celtic fans do respect him. I certainly do. I have the utmost respect for any player in his position who wants to play every week, knows that probably will not happen at Celtic, and does not throw his toys out of the pram.

He does not go banging on the manager’s door making demands. He does not sulk. He does not make himself a problem. Tony is, as I have said before, a good soldier. In a game full of egos, he is capable of leaving his at the training ground door, getting on with the work and answering the call when the manager needs him.

That is worth respecting.

Tony Ralston has been a good servant to Celtic.

And yes, you can rely on him most of the time when he steps into the side. He often gives you a solid performance. Sometimes, as at Hampden, he gives you more than that. He gave us a proper moment yesterday, and nobody should take that away from him.

But respect and realism are not opposites.

You can respect Tony Ralston and still say he is limited. You can appreciate his service and still say Celtic should look for better. Managers know this too, which is why he has never established himself as a first pick at Celtic. Martin O’Neill clearly knows it as well. If Colby Donovan had been fit, I strongly suspect Ralston would not have been in the starting eleven.

Again, that is not disrespectful.

It is simply an honest reading of where he stands.

We are not saying he is a bad person. We are not even saying he is a bad player. We are asking the simplest question in football. Is there someone better out there? Someone we can afford? Someone who would come here and raise the level?

The answer is yes.

And if the answer is yes, then that is where Celtic’s thinking has to begin.

If we decide that Tony Ralston should remain part of the next Celtic squad simply because he is familiar, dependable, popular and easy to root for, then we are accepting a mediocre option out of sentimentality or expediency. I do not know which is worse. What I do know is that Celtic cannot afford either.

This summer has to be ruthless. It has to be cold-blooded. It has to be about raising the standard in every part of the team.

That does not mean we sneer at players who have given good service. It does not mean we forget the good moments. It does not mean we ignore what Ralston has done when called upon.

It means we understand the difference between gratitude and ambition.

Tony Ralston deserves respect.

Celtic still need better.

And I will not apologise for saying that, because it is true.

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