THE first thing the Scottish Professional Football League hierarchy should do is bring the start of the season forward a month or so to help our teams in Europe.

It would be nice to see our sides getting a competitive game or two under their belts before they go into their Champions League and Europa League qualifying ties because, as things stand just now, they are definitely at a disadvantage.

Rather than start the league itself early, perhaps the best idea is to make the League Cup a season-opening competition, and make sure everyone gets a competitive game in that before they are subjected to a European tie. When it was previously called the Skol Cup, it used to be done and dusted by October, and a European place was up for grabs for the winner.

There was nothing wrong with it at the time and I feel we could definitely use the League Cup to help our European qualifiers prepare for continental football. I am not saying we should make Scottish football a summer sport, but we need to give our clubs every chance to get properly prepared in order to protect the co-efficient. Starting the season early might coincide with the Glasgow Fair holiday, but I'm not convinced attendances would drop off too much.

It really isn't great to have to play games as big as these so early in your season. No matter how well you train in pre-season, that first competitive match always feels a bit different. You always seem to be struggling to get your breath, full of nervous energy, over anxious to do your best.

I remember on one occasion at Dundee United under Paul Sturrock, I had done all my pre-season and felt as fit as I could be. We played against Aberdeen on the first day of the season and drew 1-1, but I didn't play well. Typical of Sturrock, he said "well at least it's a game under your belt" and delivered a few other wee tongue-and-cheek barbs at me.

Celtic should be too good for Cliftonville, but it will be interesting to see how Scotland's other two clubs in action this week measure up against Scandinavian opponents. I am travelling out to Trondheim to watch Rosenborg play St Johnstone while Hibs travel to Sweden to take on Malmo. Unlike in Scotland, the Swedish and Norwegian leagues are already under way, but we should be comparing ourselves to these kind of leagues, and giving their teams a game.

I know Rangers were eliminated against Malmo in the Champions League qualifiers a couple of years ago, but in general I thought the Swedes were a poor team for that standard of competition. They promptly went on to lose to Dinamo Zagreb in the play-off round, then scraped just a single point in the Europa League group stages, and if they are of a similar standard two years down the line I expect Hibs to run them close. Yes, the loss of Leigh Griffiths from last year's team is huge, but they have picked up Liam Craig and Rene Howe, and yesterday agreed one-year deals with Kevin Thomson and Rowan Vine. Losing Gregory Tade to Cluj could be a bigger loss for St Johnstone than you might think, but the Perth side have generally kept their squad together and being the type of club they are will give Rosenborg a game.

As for Cliftonville against Celtic, it is a bit like when our clubs pull a big one in Europe. Although they will have to play on an artificial surface in the first leg, I can't see anything other than a straightforward victory for the Parkhead side in both games. They will have to be professional, but I can see them maybe racking up 3-0 wins in both games.

The results in pre-season haven't been great, but they need to negotiate six matches to return to the group stages for the second year in a row, and it is an absolute must for them.

After the departure of Victor Wanyama to Southampton for £12.5 million in midweek, it would potentially be a further blow long-term if the club were to lose Gary Hooper in the next few days.

Those two have genuine class and you can't say that about too many players plying their trade in Scotland these days. It certainly make it a whole lot tougher to qualify for the group stages losing these type of players. On the flipside, it will nevertheless be interesting to get a first competitive glimpse of Amido Balde and, while I don't know what Virgil van Dijk is like, to get another centre-half in is good business. Neil Lennon will perhaps have to shuffle his pack a bit and that could mean Efe Ambrose moving into midfield to replace Wanyama.

The disappointing friendly results have placed extra pressure on Neil Lennon even at this early stage of the season, but let's be honest, Celtic should still get through to the next round easily.

There is a chance of two of the three Scottish teams getting through and what a nice boost to our game that would be. I'm not saying we are going to take Europe by storm. We just need to win a game or two.

IN the best part of 30 years in football, I have only had two short breaks from the game. Every coach or ex-player will tell you the same thing – the banter and just being out there on the training pitch is what you miss, so it is brilliant to be back in coaching at Queen of the South under Jim McIntyre. The last time I was there – we got to the Scottish Cup final under Gordon Chisholm – we had a great spirit between the staff and the boys and I can see signs of that again this year.