Hugh Keevins reckons European defeats don't matter in the long run as fans' world begins and ends with d

You could mock a club of Rangers’ size for not being in Europe this season, but you’d be short of company because there’s a new reality out there.

The most thought-provoking comments are made quickly and concisely.

Derek McInnes proved that was the case with the use of just four words after Rangers’ victory over Kilmarnock last weekend.

The Ibrox manager began a sentence by saying “We pay their wages” while referencing the extraordinary length of the Nations League international break that denied him time to work with his players.

Rangers will be money down as a consequence of having no European football but I don’t think Derek’s remark had anything to do with the club’s accounts.

They’ll make up the shortfall by winning the league at a canter, in my opinion, and going into the extended qualifiers for the Champions League.

It’s the approach to international, and European, football that intrigues me.

The tens of thousands who went to America for the World Cup painted an artificial picture.

It wasn’t just the football that took them to the United States. It was the glamour of it all and the feeling of being in a gigantic home movie.

The SPFL recently paid out a record share of income to the Premiership clubs who are part of a competition that gives the Scottish game its pulse.

Domestic rivalry comes before all else. That’s the new reality.

Regular beatings in, or failure to qualify for, European competition, do not matter in the long run.

International football is becoming a source of resentment for managers and supporters alike.

Scotland’s next game? North Macedonia, on a Friday night, at the expense of club football the following day? No thanks, you’re all right ...

I had a radio caller take me to task because I told him was letting his team off lightly by not criticising them for forfeiting Europe after a Conference League loss to a two-bob Czech side Jablonec.

But the supporter didn’t care because not being in Europe strengthened Rangers’ chances of finishing above Celtic in the league table.

It’s where the fan-base’s world begins and ends.

Patriotism doesn’t stand an earthly against pragmatism.

And those wages McInnes was talking about? Tens of thousands provide the money to pay them by their attendance at every home match.

The English game at the highest level stands on the brink of financial disaster because spiralling wages don’t match clubs’ income.

We may be poor but we are honest and, by and large, live within our means. But it’s also clear we live in an insular world where local issues write the cheques and there’s no foreign currency.