AS you read this slice of journalistic brilliance I will be either sat in an airport or on a plane as I travel to Lithuania via Amsterdam and Copenhagen to cover Celtic in Europe for what feels like the millionth time.

It used to be - and this sometimes still happens - clubs welcomed the press onto their chartered flight to wherever and a player and manager were spoken to and the interviews written up before the tyres touched down on some foreign land.

These days we need to make our own way – the horror – and the press pack have to actually do a bit of work late in the evening. Quite frankly, it’s a disgrace.

Ach, it beats digging roads in the rain which is real work.

And at least those of us going out to Kaunas for Thursday’s match with Suduvo will get some satisfaction from the job – which is more than can be said about the readers – as long as we turn up on time and get the score right.

A few hundred fans are due to head over to what is a lovely and interesting country. They won’t have to file copy and so will fill their time by drinking and having a laugh with their pals. The lucky sods.

But imagine if you had to go there not to play, work or party but as a bench warmer at best, knowing that there is little chance of even getting the last five minutes of the game.

And that is where Scott Allan is right now.

Indeed, he might even be left at home by Brendan Rodgers so out of the picture is the midfielder who three years ago joined Celtic from Hibernian in a move which I felt then was done primarily to annoy Rangers.

This one time I think I might have been right.

Allan turns 27 later this year and should be in his prime. There is an argument to be made that he is one of the most naturally gifted Scots about right now but his career has not progressed as it should have for a number of reasons.

He’s had ten clubs in total if you include loan deals. He’s played 156 senior games having made his debut at 18. There is little chance of him adding to 17 appearances for Celtic, the last one being two seasons ago, and this transfer window is close to shutting.

Again, he’s not doing manual labour outside but it’s hard not to feel a degree of sympathy for the guy who has made mistakes in the past but now just wants to play regular football.

Let’s got back three years. Rangers wanted Allan, Hibs didn’t want to sell their best player to direct rival – they were both in the Championship – and Celtic flexed their financial muscles to get the deal done.

This was despite Celtic having too many central midfielders at the time and the-then manager Ronnie Deila not being keen on the player at all. Allan never had a chance of showing the Celtic supporters what he was capable of, which is a real pity.

However, Allan seemed to get back on the right road last season. After a loan at Dundee got cut short, he returned to Easter Road and his performance in a win at Ibrox was one of the best I watched. His display in the first-half in particular was close to perfect.

Rodgers said that Allan and Hibs seemed a good fit and it didn’t take too much reading between the lines to work out that Neil Lennon wouldn’t have to break the bank to get the midfielder on a permanent contract.

But Allan is still at Celtic. Sitting on the bench, in the stand or at home last week when his team-mates were in Athens, although I believe he was ill.

My fear is the window will shut and this talented footballer – a popular figure in the Celtic dressing room - will be left kicking his heels when he should be entertaining crowds up and down the country.

A problem is that Peter Lawwell and Rod Petrie are hardly what you could call besties, which is why getting a deal done is not as simple as it appeared earlier this year.

However, it would be a crying shame if Allan doesn’t return to Hibs or get an opportunity elsewhere because it’s not going to happen for him at Celtic.

If only he could play centre-half.

This is a playmaker with craft, guile, an eye for goal and who has a bit of dig about him as well. There are not too many of them around. For the good of our game, we need to see Scott Allan on the pitch.