CELTIC TRIED a little gimmick before kick-off against AC Milan which has been popular on the continent for years without previously catching on here. When the teams were announced to the 60,000 crowd only the Celtic players' Christian names were read out by the stadium announcer, before a pause which the fans filled by roaring out the surnames.

As well as stoking the atmosphere a little more it served to show which players were the most popular. The genuine favourites had their surnames shouted loudest. It was a bit of fun the supporters engaged with, but it was useless in terms of shedding light on Thomas Gravesen's current standing with the fans: the announcer didn't bother doing it for the substitutes.

AC Milan in the Champions League is one of those cards-on-the-table fixtures; the sort of occasion when there is no hiding place when the starting XI is announced. No-one is rested for these ones, no-one ducks it to save themselves for a bigger game to follow. Injuries and ineligibility aside, the team that runs out is the one the manager believes to be his best.

So the evidence from Tuesday night was unmistakable: Gravesen is the highest-paid player in Scottish football and currently not in the top four of Celtic's most valued midfielders. Actually, he is not even in the top five, given that Paul Hartley would have started alongside Neil Lennon had he been eligible.

Many had guessed it would happen but there was still drama in the confirmation of seeing Gravesen excluded in favour of 19-year-old Evander Sno. Sno justified Strachan's instinct to pick him with a disciplined and busy performance,while Gravesen was reduced to a cameo role as an 81st minute substitute for the tiring Lennon. Gravesen has not started a match since Hartley joined Celtic at the end of January and his last three appearances have amounted to 32, 12 and then just nine minutes of involvement from the bench. Given his wages - a spectacular figure around the £40,000-a-week mark - Gravesen has become precisely what Celtic cannot afford: a luxurious passenger.

Some of his early performances were overpraised because too many observers got it into their heads that a "galactico" had arrived from Real Madrid. Scoring in two Old Firm derbies maintained his popularity at Parkhead, but too often he has looked heavy, ponderous and anonymous. His inability to follow tactical instructions was another flaw to exasperate the Celtic management. There has been no clamour from supporters to have him back in the team.

Gravesen felt that newspaper coverage of his relationship with Kira Eggers, a model and former Danish soft pornography actress, was salacious, so he no longer talks to journalists from Scotland or Denmark. His views do still leak out, though, and on Friday one of his closest friends, the former Vejle and Brondby player Kaspar Dalgas, shed some light on Gravesen's state of mind. "Of course Thomas is very sad about the situation. We have talked about it several times lately. I don't think he will stay at Celtic if he keeps sitting on the bench. It surprises people that they prefer the captain, Neil Lennon, who can hardly run any more."

Given that there has been suggestions that Gravesen has an uneasy relationship with some of his team-mates, it is reasonable to infer that the "people" surprised by Lennon's automatic selection include Gravesen himself.

The Danish international manager, Morten Olsen, was also sympathetic, despite the fact Gravesen retired from national duty last September. "I am surprised that a player with his qualities can't get in the Celtic team," said Olsen. "His rivals must be very good to keep him out of the team. Thomas lives and breathes for the football and when he doesn't play regularly it destroys him as a person."

If he was to see out the remainder of his three-year contract Celtic would have to pay Gravesen another £4.3 million. It seems inconceivable that that will happen given that Gravesen, who turns 31 next month, still has market value and has attracted the attentions of Everton and LA Galaxy, among others.

Strachan,diplomatic onthe subject, nevertheless maintained that while Gravesen was unhappy to be out of the team, it did not necessarily follow that he wanted to leave. "I think he is happy to stay and fight for his place but when we get to the transfer window everyone will want to talk about it again. Everyone's interested in him because of his wages. That's what makes him different."

"I have a son myself who plays professional football Gavin, at Peterborough and when he's on the phone I can tell right away whether he's playing or whether he's not been picked. It's about how you deal with that. Do you allow your disappointment to get to you and affect you, or do you take it into the dressing room and let it affect other people."

"Thomas has been fine. He is disappointed but he's not affected the other players. I have spoken to him and he knows what the situation is and he knows my views about football teams. The priority is the team. I am not saying I am looking for more from him. We have a lot of people on the bench so it is unfair just to pick on Thomas. You can't pick on someone just because he gets more wages." And you can't pick them on that basis either, as Strachan showed on Tuesday night.

If the decision to invest so heavily in Gravesen has backfired on the Celtic manager it is one of the few things that have in two years of consistent improvement. His other marquee signings, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Shunsuke Nakamura, have consistently vindicated his judgement. Had the pair made the telling contributions wehave become so accustomed to, Celtic mighthave snatched a 1-0 win against AC Milan rather than a draw. Instead, Milan "dictated Celtic's performance"asAC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti noted on Tuesday night. The Italians' determination to close down Celtic's usual supply routes and leave Parkhead with at least a draw was always likely to be rewarded. Strachan will have to figure out a way of surprising Milan in order to get a precious away goal in the second leg.

The sublime midfield play of Kaka and Andrea Pirlo deserved a finisher who was their equal, which meant Celtic were glad that Alberto Gilardino was there instead. "Our players realised that every chance Milan got wasn't going to end up in the back of our net," said Strachan. "So they relaxed a bit. You can have a vision of Milan finding the net with every chance they get."

That was a sound observation. It is true that the first thing that comes to mind about AC Milan in the San Siro is the thought of one of football's aristocrats drowning an opponent with passing, movement and goals. That presumes the six times European Cup winners always reach a level that realises their own supporters' fantasies. Sadly for Celtic, it is more likely they will play within themselves and still end the Scottish champions' campaign.