If they can find it for the biggest games, are they short changing the fans by not being willing or able to produce it every week? Of course it is not as simple as that, the natural flood of adrenaline that kicks in when confronted by such an extreme environment is beyond the control of anyone. The trick is to be able to channel that extra rush in the right directions and Gordon Strachan's men certainly did that.

Every professional player you ask will tell you immediately where and when he came across the best atmosphere in his career. Press him a little further and he will tell you the truth about how he really felt in that moment. I know for a fact that many are nervous, if not downright fearful, but others love the wall of sound that attacks the senses.

I certainly remember the noise of 100,000 Mexicans in the Aztec Stadium getting more than a little displeased when we, the Scotland Under-19 side, had the temerity to beat the hosts at the World Youth Championships. The massive boiling bowl not only funnelled the sound down on to the pitch, but also the bottles and bricks that were launched at us when the final whistle blew.

For me it was a defining moment. I loved it and wanted to be there in the middle of it all. I had never felt nerves before but after this I knew that I would never be nervous because nothing could be more extreme than that. And this is why you often hear managers talking about giving youngsters a taste of the biggest games, even if it is only as a late substitute. You find out who can cope and blossom and who is likely to buckle and hide. My experience tells me that if you get this experience young it is easier cope with and helps fast track the rest of your career.

Ryan Giggs has lived inside this environment for over 15 years and Cillian Sheridan might just be at the dawn of a sparkling career himself. One glancing header at goal and working himself to a standstill may have left some still questioning his credentials, but I saw enough to believe this is a young man who can cope with the pressure at that level. If he does last at the top for the next 15 years, will he come across anything more extreme than Parkhead on a big Champions League night?

Well, anyone who has played in Istanbul might make a case. Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Galatasaray compete to see who can be the loudest and the most intimidating and it isn't a competition I would like to judge. Suffice to say that when I played for Everton against Gala the noise was deafening throughout and because we were winning 3-2, their fans poured on to the pitch before the game finished to try to get the match abandoned. The players, home and away, all belted down the tunnel to safety, but that didn't stop them battering our team bus with bricks as we left. It was only a friendly so imagine what the derbies must be like.

I was at the Champions League final between Manchester Untied and Chelsea in Moscow in May. Around 90,000 packed into the Luzhniki Stadium for a pulsating game, but 24 hours later I was at Tannadice as Celtic pipped Rangers to the title in front of 13,000 and there was a far better buzz in Dundee. How does that happen?

Well, the stadium design is important and the occasion is as well, but more than anything else it's to do with the type of fans. For all that England is a country that loves its football, I have to say that having played in London derbies for Chelsea against Arsenal and Spurs, they do not even come close to an Old Firm match. Even a Liverpool v Everton clash is way down the scale in comparison to the Glasgow rammy.

This is of course partly down to the history, hatred and sense of danger involved in this particular match, but that isn't the main reason for its intensity. Both Ibrox and Parkhead break all relevant EU decibel levels on European nights when their oldest rivals aren't around and what's more, anyone who has been to a Scotland match at Hampden Park recently will tell you that the Old Firm haven't got a monopoly on mayhem in this country.

I think we take this support for granted in Scotland. Teams around the world would love to be able to call on this extra influence. And it does have a significant effect, not only on your own players but on the officials and the opposition as well. Most football folk will say that great players are lifted by these occasions and they are right, but others, even talented players, can experience a negative reaction.

Players who suffer from nerves often say they are a good thing, and I believe they probably are because they get the adrenaline going. But surely if the nervousness is uncontrolled it must have an adverse effect in some circumstances? Actually that isn't a question, it is a statement because I have seen it with my own eyes and it is not a good thing to witness in your team mates just before you walk out into an imposing amphitheatre.

This leads to an important point. As a group of fans you aren't going to be able to panic an entire team, but if just one or two of the visiting players are spooked by the spectacle before their eyes and the racket assaulting their ears, then it gives your side a huge advantage. I even think that happened on Wednesday with the mighty Manchester United. Nani seemed overawed by what surrounded him and it led him to have the mother of all stinkers in that first half.

Sir Alex spotted this and hooked him at the first reasonable opportunity but by then Celtic had taken advantage and it almost saw them through to the three points against arguably the best team on the planet. We might not be producing huge numbers of world-class footballers ourselves at the moment, but I suspect we now have hundreds of thousands of world-class supporters; maybe we should celebrate them more often.

A sense of atmosphere

NEVIN'S TOP FIVE

Mexico U19 0, Scotland U19 1 Aztec Stadium

Win was rewarded with a hail of bottles and bricks

Galatasaray 2, Everton 3

'Friendly' ended with a pitch invasion by home fans

Scotland 0, England 2 Hampden

A Rous Cup match from 1989

Everton 2, Liverpool 3 Wembley

The 1989 FA Cup final. Liverpool won it in extra time

Chelsea v Arsenal Stamford Bridge & Highbury

A passionate London derby

NEVIN'S BOTTOM FIVE

Stenhousemuir v Clyde Ochilview

A freezing wet Wednesday night

Arbroath v Motherwell Gayfield

Abandoned due to hurricane winds

Luxembourg 0, Scotland 0 Esch-sur-Alzette

Dismal Euro qualifier from 1987

Scottish Press v MSPs Murrayfield

Apparently more tasty nowadays

The Stiffs

Any reserve match when coming back from injury