Scottish Football ... Stockholm Syndrome

[NAE NOOKIE]

Just listened to Stuart McCall on Reporting Scotland trot out the usual tired old Bull Jobby about how we need the OF ( rangers ) because of the number of fans they take to away games and how you can sell more corporate hospitality on the back of matches against them. Not to mention the TV money they attract and how his club ( and others ) would struggle without them.

This is typical of the Stockholm Syndrome attitude that the people who own and run our clubs now have in regard to the OF.

They have become so brainwashed in their way of thinking by the ' its aye been ' way of looking at things in this country that they just cant see the wood for the bloody trees.

The truth of the matter is that the OF have no problem selling out their own grounds or selling tickets for away matches in Motherwell, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen, Edinburgh or anywhere else in Scotland due to the fact that, for example, for every 4,000 ( or whatever it is ) away fans who turn up at Fir Park when the OF are in town 3 times each a season a probable total of 4,000 fans who should be going to Fir Park EVERY HOME GAME go to Parkhead or Ibrox every other Saturday.

So yeh .... Motherwell get 24,000 away fans on the back of the OF every season but probably lose 70,000 to the OF every season, a net loss of 48,000 punters. To a greater or lesser extent the same situation applies to every club in Scotland.

Next ..... Because of the never ending monopoly of the league and most cup competitions by the OF any fans who are less than dedicated to their clubs have drifted away, only to be resurrected for hugely important league games or the once in 10 or 20 years appearance in a cup final ... coming out like flowers in the bloody desert when it rains. So as far as I can see, another loss of revenue which can be blamed on the OF.

Then theres the TV money negotiated by the SPL for the SPL .... Why do the OF get a disproportionate share of that money? and more to the point, why are they allowed to get away with it? Because they would take the huff and negotiate their own TV deals?
Fine .... Let them .... they could only sell the rights to their own home matches which would discourage their thousands of fans from Ireland, England and the further reaches of Scotland from going to Glasgow. Its their televised away games which attract the TV folk, thats why you never see live league games from Parkhead or Ibrox .............. Call their bloody bluff you SPL idiots !!!

So Mr McCall and all you other OF apologists .......... Instead of telling us why we cant do without them, start to realise that they are the cause of the problem .... not the bloody solution to it !!!


Rant over

[green glory]

Crack open a tinny son. You deserve it. Spot-on by the way. Scottish football needs to grow a pair. A golden opportunity which mustn't be squandered. Celtic have made their position clear. I just hope the Tache doesn't get cold feet.

[lucky]

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Just listened to Stuart McCall on Reporting Scotland trot out the usual tired old Bull Jobby about how we need the OF ( rangers ) because of the number of fans they take to away games and how you can sell more corporate hospitality on the back of matches against them. Not to mention the TV money they attract and how his club ( and others ) would struggle without them.

This is typical of the Stockholm Syndrome attitude that the people who own and run our clubs now have in regard to the OF.

They have become so brainwashed in their way of thinking by the ' its aye been ' way of looking at things in this country that they just cant see the wood for the bloody trees.

The truth of the matter is that the OF have no problem selling out their own grounds or selling tickets for away matches in Motherwell, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen, Edinburgh or anywhere else in Scotland due to the fact that, for example, for every 4,000 ( or whatever it is ) away fans who turn up at Fir Park when the OF are in town 3 times each a season a probable total of 4,000 fans who should be going to Fir Park EVERY HOME GAME go to Parkhead or Ibrox every other Saturday.

So yeh .... Motherwell get 24,000 away fans on the back of the OF every season but probably lose 70,000 to the OF every season, a net loss of 48,000 punters. To a greater or lesser extent the same situation applies to every club in Scotland.

Next ..... Because of the never ending monopoly of the league and most cup competitions by the OF any fans who are less than dedicated to their clubs have drifted away, only to be resurrected for hugely important league games or the once in 10 or 20 years appearance in a cup final ... coming out like flowers in the bloody desert when it rains. So as far as I can see, another loss of revenue which can be blamed on the OF.

Then theres the TV money negotiated by the SPL for the SPL .... Why do the OF get a disproportionate share of that money? and more to the point, why are they allowed to get away with it? Because they would take the huff and negotiate their own TV deals?
Fine .... Let them .... they could only sell the rights to their own home matches which would discourage their thousands of fans from Ireland, England and the further reaches of Scotland from going to Glasgow. Its their televised away games which attract the TV folk, thats why you never see live league games from Parkhead or Ibrox .............. Call their bloody bluff you SPL idiots !!!

So Mr McCall and all you other OF apologists .......... Instead of telling us why we cant do without them, start to realise that they are the cause of the problem .... not the bloody solution to it !!!


Rant over

well thought out post shame its wrong. Scottish football needs the old firm. Gate money, tv cash , sponsorship, hospitality would all be dramatically reduced. I hate the two of them but they make up the majority of Scottish football

[scuttle]

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well thought out post shame its wrong. Scottish football needs the old firm. Gate money, tv cash , sponsorship, hospitality would all be dramatically reduced. I hate the two of them but they make up the majority of Scottish football

No we dont.What would have happened if they had got into the English leagues as they wanted to?,do you think they care about Hibs, Hearts etc.With them gone crowds would flourish IMHO as the league would be more competative and teams would have more chance of success as with us when we were in the First Division the last time, we got more through the turnstiles then than we are at present.Yes we would loose TV money but by switching to summer football Sky would probably pump money in as apart from cricket and a fortnight of tennis there is little other sport on tv worth watching. Now is the time for radiacal change in our game and if we miss this opportunity we might never get another one.

[bighairyfaeleith]

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well thought out post shame its wrong. Scottish football needs the old firm. Gate money, tv cash , sponsorship, hospitality would all be dramatically reduced. I hate the two of them but they make up the majority of Scottish football

you never fail to post the biggest load of utter pish known to man.

[Kevvy1875]

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well thought out post shame its wrong. Scottish football needs the old firm. Gate money, tv cash , sponsorship, hospitality would all be dramatically reduced. I hate the two of them but they make up the majority of Scottish football

Struggling to understand how something can be 'well thought out' & 'wrong' at the same time?

Can anyone explain this new phenomenon to me please?

[cabbageandribs1875]

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you never fail to post the biggest load of utter pish known to man.

it's the SNP's fault

[bighairyfaeleith]

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Struggling to understand how something can be 'well thought out' & 'wrong' at the same time?

Can anyone explain this new phenomenon to me please?

it's kind of like borrowing from yourself

[cabbageandribs1875]

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Crack open a tinny son. You deserve it. Spot-on by the way. Scottish football needs to grow a pair. A golden opportunity which mustn't be squandered. Celtic have made their position clear. I just hope the Tache doesn't get cold feet.

i'l hazard a guess that if any votes were to take place re the buns staying in the SPL...RP will vote for them(the buns) the only two/three clubs(imo) that would vote against would be sellick, dundee utd, and possibly the yamboids, i also think if there was a chance of finally getting shot of the ridiculous 11-1 p@sh the other SPL clubs still wouldnt take the chance

[CropleyWasGod]

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Struggling to understand how something can be 'well thought out' & 'wrong' at the same time?

Can anyone explain this new phenomenon to me please?

The Great Train Robbers plan was well thought out. But wrong.

Bernie Madoff's scheme was well thought out. But wrong.

Craig Whyte's scheme was just scheidt. And wrong.

[Scouse Hibee]

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well thought out post shame its wrong. Scottish football needs the old firm. Gate money, tv cash , sponsorship, hospitality would all be dramatically reduced. I hate the two of them but they make up the majority of Scottish football

More Old Firm Tunnel Vision!

[big-mo]

I agree with Bovril. I think Scottish football would survive quite easily without the infirm, If you look at the gates at ER for when Smelltic or Rankers play you will find that the number of season ticket holders who turn up is less than games against Aberdeen, Motherwell and the likes, I can only surmise that this is down to a couple of things, either, they expect us to get humped and don't want to watch it or they do not like the vile that they come out with every time they turn up.

Without they OF, other teams would be stronger and would have a better chance when playing in Europe, you would not see hundred of buses leaving Aberdeen, Fife, Ayrshire etc every week travelling to Glasgow.
And you would not have the embarrassment of being Scottish and going on holiday and seeing whole families, mums dads wains grans and grandads all decked out in green and white hoops or rangers strips and tattoos of King Billy.

[Seveno]

I firmly believe that, if we were rid of the bigot brothers, we would have a real league with a genuine competition that would interest fans. Apart from a certain club in the west of Edinburgh, we would be rid of the hatred, bile and bigotry that despoils our game and puts so many people off attending games.

We would probably stop employed foreign journeymen and start developing our own players again who could then be sold on to English clubs to boost revenue.

TV is killing our game. It encourages lazy support and the disruption of kick-off times makes it difficult for many fans to attend and destroys the habit of attending on a Saturday afternoon.

Our league is geared towards the generation of the best possible return for just two clubs to help them 'compete' in Europe. That plan consistently fails, of course, and all to the detriment of the remaining clubs.

Good riddance to Rangers and may your partners in crime soon follow.

[lucky]

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you never fail to post the biggest load of utter pish known to man.

Well well well you finally manage to put a sentence together your primary teacher will be so proud. Forums are about opinions but sadly yours is blinkered narrow minded and blighted by politics very much like the old firm you proclaim to dislike.

[lucky]

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it's the SNP's fault

For once wee eck is innocent even if some media claims that the Scottish government will intervene

[lucky]

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Struggling to understand how something can be 'well thought out' & 'wrong' at the same time?

Can anyone explain this new phenomenon to me please?

Rather easy the OP has thought out his arguments and constructed it well but the reality of it is Scottish football relies on the old firm heavily. If Rangers end up in the 3rd division every club in the SPL will lose out. This is not me but the people who run the clubs.

[Ozyhibby]

Motherwell would benefit more than most from Rangers demise.

[Scouse Hibee]

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Rather easy the OP has thought out his arguments and constructed it well but the reality of it is Scottish football relies on the old firm heavily. If Rangers end up in the 3rd division every club in the SPL will lose out. This is not me but the people who run the clubs.

IMO that's just looking at it short term, the bigger picture is that the League will flourish, become more competitive and in doing so attract more fans. The old firm have become the Tesco of the league, squeezing the life blood out of smaller local clubs because people would rather travel to the big club.

[lucky]

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Motherwell would benefit more than most from Rangers demise.

How's that? If Hibs ceased I would not go and watch my local club Livingston or any other club.

[TornadoHibby]

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Craig Whyte's scheme was just scheidt. And wrong.

But what is his scheme actually?

[Seveno]

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IMO that's just looking at it short term, the bigger picture is that the League will flourish, become more competitive and in doing so attract more fans. The old firm have become the Tesco of the league, squeezing the life blood out of smaller local clubs because people would rather travel to the big club.

Great analogy.

[Ozyhibby]

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How's that? If Hibs ceased I would not go and watch my local club Livingston or any other club.

But your kids might, or grandkids? Everyone is thinking of next years income. It time some clubs started thinking about 20-25 years from now.

[SMAXXA]

I think all you need to do is look at the league table minus rangers and celtic to see how close and competative our leagure really could be. Not just this season but historically speaking outside them there's normally 2 3 even 4 teams all in the mix going into the last couple of months of the season. Much like the championship, always competative and is a big draw for tv.

Not to mention bigger crowds as clubs will have something exiting to go for and fans wanting to go along to be part of it.

[lucky]

A competitive league is not a big draw for tv. It's about viewers. The northern Irish and republics leagues are competitive but don't get a big tv deal. Turkeys voting for Xmas springs to mind

[Scouse Hibee]

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A competitive league is not a big draw for tv. It's about viewers. The northern Irish and republics leagues are competitive but don't get a big tv deal. Chickens voting for Xmas springs to mind

Don't know about that............."You can't see the wood for the trees" springs to my mind!

[Andy74]

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A competitive league is not a big draw for tv. It's about viewers. The northern Irish and republics leagues are competitive but don't get a big tv deal. Chickens voting for Xmas springs to mind

Who cares about TV. You've just said those leagues are competitive. That's what I'd like. What good is our current TV deal money doing?

[Kevvy1875]

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Who cares about TV. You've just said those leagues are competitive. That's what I'd like. What good is our current TV deal money doing?

Nail on head.


Everyone thinks they have the answer but the truth is if we do not have radical change in the set up to our league then the punters are going to rapidly lose interest(especially non-OF teams). The opportunity has been presented to us on a plate by Rangers FC and people are actually sh*tting themselves at the thought??!!! Lets take the chance!

[SkintHibby]

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Well well well you finally manage to put a sentence together your primary teacher will be so proud. Forums are about opinions but sadly yours is blinkered narrow minded and blighted by politics very much like the old form you proclaim to dislike.

Your original comments in this thread clearly show you have no idea what you are talking about.

[Hibbyradge]

I would win the Olympic 100 metres gold medal if I could choose my opponents.

No one would be interested though.

[hibbiedon]

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A competitive league is not a big draw for tv. It's about viewers. The northern Irish and republics leagues are competitive but don't get a big tv deal. Chickens voting for Xmas springs to mind

When we were in the first division, our crowds were really good, When St Mirren were winning the first division many of their games were all ticket, remove the poison twins then several teams would be challenging for the title, cups etc. with increased crowds comes increased sponsorship. Viewers want excitement, not a two horse race with half empty grounds




Yes to seperation