Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has offered a backhanded compliment to Celtic whilst praising their dominance of Scottish football.

The BBC pundit believes their financial position means they have an unfair advantage over the other teams in the Premiership:

“Just the way that they’ve played, dominating football. I know they get £20million a year when they get into the Champions League.”

There’s a massive disparity actually with what happens in Scottish football, that’s why there’s so much trouble there at the moment. Celtic can’t fail to win the league with the amount of money they get, so it’s a bit unfair at the moment.”

‘Success begets success’ is the famous proverb, and Keown should know better than to criticise a Scottish club when the ‘big six’ in the Premier League hold such financial sway in England.

Celtic’s success has been based on wise decisions, in terms of financial prudence, player recruitment and managerial appointments.

The board can certainly be criticised for their frugalness, but they have guided the Hoops to a dominant position in the Scottish game through their ability to manage the club with a degree of competence.

That is in stark contrast to their Old Firm rivals and other teams in the top flight, who have had their fair share of financial problems over the years.