Scotland: A joke football nation?

[Mag7]

Putting aside the amusement factor at the huns result, am I alone in feeling a degree of embarrassment at this latest European fiasco for a Scottish team? Every single one of our representatives in Europe this season has suffered embarrassing results, and in several cases been humiliated. The huns are the reigning champions of Scotland ie THE BEST CLUB SIDE OUR NATION HAS TO OFFER. What does that say about the standard of our club game?

As for the national side, well, six successive failures to qualify for a major tournament (the latest from probably the easiest group they could have hoped for) says it all.

Scotland as a football nation has become a laughing stock. As I've said before, my own solution would be to introduce a UK league and UK team in the hope that it would result in a long-term lifting of standards, but that's not to everyone's liking. If not that, though, then what?

We can laugh at them all we want tonight, but let's face it there's a very good chance that what is clearly a woeful Rangers side will still be good enough to beat Hibs on Saturday.

[Ed De Gramo]

Putting aside the amusement factor at the huns result, am I alone in feeling a degree of embarrassment at this latest European fiasco for a Scottish team? Every single one of our representatives in Europe this season has suffered embarrassing results, and in several cases been humiliated. The huns are the reigning champions of Scotland ie THE BEST CLUB SIDE OUR NATION HAS TO OFFER. What does that say about the standard of our club game?

As for the national side, well, six successive failures to qualify for a major tournament (the latest from probably the easiest group they could have hoped for) says it all.

Scotland as a football nation has become a laughing stock. As I've said before, my own solution would be to introduce a UK league and UK team in the hope that it would result in a long-term lifting of standards, but that's not to everyone's liking. If not that, though, then what?

We can laugh at them all we want tonight, but let's face it there's a very good chance that what is clearly a woeful Rangers side will be good enough to beat Hibs on Saturday.

A UK team would be a failure for everybody involved...except England :grr:

No Scottish born player would make the starting 11....it would be basically England under a different name.

With regards to a UK league...another killer would be the cost to follow your team round the UK :agree:

[Hibby 2005]

We can laugh at them all we want tonight, but let's face it there's a very good chance that what is clearly a woeful Rangers side will be good enough to beat Hibs on Saturday.

Man, just when I was starting to enjoy myself along comes the reality check.

[Mag7]

A UK team would be a failure for everybody involved...except England :grr:

No Scottish born player would make the starting 11....it would be basically England under a different name.

With regards to a UK league...another killer would be the cost to follow your team round the UK :agree:

I'm not proposing we start another UK league/team debate (though for what it's worth I'd far rather pick a few interesting away trips a season than trudge through to Paisley or Kilmarnock two or three times a season just because it costs less). I just wonder where on earth Scottish football goes from here. We're all hopeful about what Yogi is putting together at Hibs, but when you look at what happens to our top club side on the European stage you wonder just how low your expectations are.

[Alicky Ranks]

Putting aside the amusement factor at the huns result, am I alone in feeling a degree of embarrassment at this latest European fiasco for a Scottish team? Every single one of our representatives in Europe this season has suffered embarrassing results, and in several cases been humiliated. The huns are the reigning champions of Scotland ie THE BEST CLUB SIDE OUR NATION HAS TO OFFER. What does that say about the standard of our club game?

As for the national side, well, six successive failures to qualify for a major tournament (the latest from probably the easiest group they could have hoped for) says it all.

Scotland as a football nation has become a laughing stock. As I've said before, my own solution would be to introduce a UK league and UK team in the hope that it would result in a long-term lifting of standards, but that's not to everyone's liking. If not that, though, then what?

We can laugh at them all we want tonight, but let's face it there's a very good chance that what is clearly a woeful Rangers side will still be good enough to beat Hibs on Saturday.

Couldn't agree more. I used to love seeing the Old Firm stuffed in Europe, but that was when the rarity value of such results made them worth savouring. Now Celtic and Rangers are simply pathetic, which must make the rest of us REALLY pathetic!

[Hibercelona]

Thats because Rangers arent the best Scotland have to offer...

There are better teams in the league....

If Rangers were so great... then why are they constantly needing a helping hand by their SFA chums?

Same goes for the other side of the dirty rusty coin.

[AK86]

Couldn't agree more. I used to love seeing the Old Firm stuffed in Europe, but that was when the rarity value of such results made them worth savouring. Now Celtic and Rangers are simply pathetic, which must make the rest of us REALLY pathetic!

I couldnt care less about the Scottish co-efficent , how pathetic the OF are.
We are better than we were last year. They got humped tonight, I enjoyed it, welcome to the real world glory hunters. I will enjoy smirking to all the glory hunting gobshoots at work tomorrow
I cant recall Hibs profiting when they done well in Europe so dont see why it should go against us when they they get PUMPED
The team that beat Rancid tonight are no bigger than St Johnstone , that is what is possible with a bit belief and good fortune

[monktonharp]

Putting aside the amusement factor at the huns result, am I alone in feeling a degree of embarrassment at this latest European fiasco for a Scottish team? Every single one of our representatives in Europe this season has suffered embarrassing results, and in several cases been humiliated. The huns are the reigning champions of Scotland ie THE BEST CLUB SIDE OUR NATION HAS TO OFFER. What does that say about the standard of our club game?

As for the national side, well, six successive failures to qualify for a major tournament (the latest from probably the easiest group they could have hoped for) says it all.

Scotland as a football nation has become a laughing stock. As I've said before, my own solution would be to introduce a UK league and UK team in the hope that it would result in a long-term lifting of standards, but that's not to everyone's liking. If not that, though, then what?

We can laugh at them all we want tonight, but let's face it there's a very good chance that what is clearly a woeful Rangers side will still be good enough to beat Hibs on Saturday.thats rich,from someone that has stopped going to games:wink:

[stokesmessiah]

A UK team would be a failure for everybody involved...except England :grr:

No Scottish born player would make the starting 11....it would be basically England under a different name.

With regards to a UK league...another killer would be the cost to follow your team round the UK :agree:


Could you not have regional divisions with the winners of them going on to play in a knockout?? In an NFL style set-up?

[Mikey_1875]

Scottish Football seems to be in the pits this season. The only teams with improvements imo have been us and Motherwell and St J's maybe. The leagues quality overall is rubbish.

In saying that though Scottish football is the only football I care about in the context of hibs so if by the overall league quality going down makes the league more competitive and exciting then long may it continue :thumbsup:

[Alicky Ranks]

Thats because Rangers arent the best Scotland have to offer...

There are better teams in the league....

If Rangers were so great... then why are they constantly needing a helping hand by their SFA chums?

Same goes for the other side of the dirty rusty coin.

I haven't checked, but I'm sure Rangers (and Celtic) still finished at least 20 points ahead of third place last season. That, unfortunately, means they ARE the best teams Scotland has to offer. And that, based on last night's evidence, is a very sad state of affairs.

[Mag7]

Scottish Football seems to be in the pits this season. The only teams with improvements imo have been us and Motherwell and St J's maybe. The leagues quality overall is rubbish.

In saying that though Scottish football is the only football I care about in the context of hibs so if by the overall league quality going down makes the league more competitive and exciting then long may it continue :thumbsup:

Is that what it's come to? The worse the standard of Scottish football gets, the better Hibs' chances of success, so that makes it OK?

[Hainan Hibs]

Is that what it's come to? The worse the standard of Scottish football gets, the better Hibs' chances of success, so that makes it OK?

As a Hibs supporter, aye, it is:thumbsup:

[Mikey_1875]

Is that what it's come to? The worse the standard of Scottish football gets, the better Hibs' chances of success, so that makes it OK?

For me anyway. I think were playing some not bad football this season and would class myself as being entertained, if the teams that dominated the league and some competitors get worse and we are say in a few years getting regular chances at winning things then that's great.

Until we actually get into a european competition regularly i'm only really concerned about hibs on a domestic scale so if the teams around us get worse then all the better for us.

[Stevie Reid]

Rangers getting humiliated last night is probably the worst thing that could have happened before Saturday's game, from our point of view - I would be amazed if they could play that badly again, and will be determined to make amends.

However, if we could unsettle them early on, the crowd will be on top of them. Keeping it tight early is a must, can't afford give them a goal to settle the nerves - easier said than done mind you, especially with Boyd coming in with a point to prove.

We have nothing to fear though.

[jodjam]

i believe it goes round in cycles. Couple years back the huns made a Euro final, celtc done well in champs league and Aberdeen got thru the group stages of the Uefa cup. I agree this years results have been enjoyable , ( i mean humiliating) but i don't believe these results are the death of Scottish football.

I bet the money available from TV/attendances etc is not great in Romania but these countries produce good teams from time to time. We should be looking outward to improve and not just saying were crap all the time.

[jakedance]

Is that what it's come to? The worse the standard of Scottish football gets, the better Hibs' chances of success, so that makes it OK?

Yes it does. Until Scotland has a competitive league it will never be any good. The champions league has only made the old firm even richer than the rest of us, other than for the elite it's been terrible for football. Every old firm defeat in Europe should be unreservedly celebrated.

I couldn't care less how we compare to the rest of Europe. I just want to see Hibs, and other teams, start each season with a realistic dream of winning the league. When you think about it it's bloody depressing and stale.

[GreenBlade]

If Hibs go to Ibrox on Saturday and get beat 3 or 4 nil then yes I'll agree, Scottish footballs in a mess. However, many of us will be looking towards Ibrox without the trepidation we usually have. Rangers will come out with all guns blazing but if we hold them for the first 15minutes, their crowd will do what they normally do, growl like buggery. Then the Hibees just need to believe and go for it. If were above the Bears on saturday night none of us will be thinking about the rest of the football world laughing at the Scottish game. Living down here I know the phrase "laughing stock" dosent enter their heads as frankly they couldn't give a monkies about Scottish football. We're not that important lads.

Oh, please drop the UK team idea by the way. You'd support a team in red, white and blue? Sing God save the Queen and Rule Britannia? How on earth would you tell the difference between a UK team and England :confused:

A) Were NOT a laughing stock as nobody outside Scotland notices or cares. Were NOT that important.

B) We have a team more than capable of challenging the Old Firm.

Once you get A into your head then you'll start to believe and care about B.

I do hope this post meets with the approval of admin. I didn't believe you were so sensitive! :wink:

[Joe Baker II]

Will be up for gloating at OF European defeats when we have some justification - i.e. after we have a slightly better embarassing record than 1 European victory in 31 years (and even that one was 20 years ago!). That genuinely is embarassing!

[jacomo]

Things are looking pretty bad at the moment, but (contrary to the Old Firm spin) it's not all about money.

Or is the Romanian league much wealthier than the SPL? :confused:

Rangers are just gash, FACT, and the sense of injustice they are currently nursing may well have had a contributing factor in that gutless performance last night. What happened to the old adage, "just make the best of it"?

Uncle Watty should be devoting his energies to making his team play better, not acting as self-appointed deal maker for some new, pie-in-the-sky pan-national league.

They deserve all they get, and I only hope that we pile on the pain this weekend.

[Phil MaGlass]

an early goal on saturday and its goodnight Vienna.as for a UK league wtf.

[Bishop Hibee]

Putting aside the amusement factor at the huns result, am I alone in feeling a degree of embarrassment at this latest European fiasco for a Scottish team? Every single one of our representatives in Europe this season has suffered embarrassing results, and in several cases been humiliated. The huns are the reigning champions of Scotland ie THE BEST CLUB SIDE OUR NATION HAS TO OFFER. What does that say about the standard of our club game?

As for the national side, well, six successive failures to qualify for a major tournament (the latest from probably the easiest group they could have hoped for) says it all.

Scotland as a football nation has become a laughing stock. As I've said before, my own solution would be to introduce a UK league and UK team in the hope that it would result in a long-term lifting of standards, but that's not to everyone's liking. If not that, though, then what?

We can laugh at them all we want tonight, but let's face it there's a very good chance that what is clearly a woeful Rangers side will still be good enough to beat Hibs on Saturday.

I certainly laugh at the OF so maybe you're right. I suggest you actually attend a few Hibs games and see we are actually playing some attractive attacking football and have nothing to be embarrassed about.

[Tinyclothes]

It's never as bad as people try and make out. It seems like the SPL is in a permanent crisis and at it's last chance saloon. I'm not sure I prescribe to that chain of thought. I think the OF have had to downsize because of money issues and that's why they can't compete in europe and dominate domestically. I think this is a good thing and hopefully we can capitalise on it.

[flash]

Will be up for gloating at OF European defeats when we have some justification - i.e. after we have a slightly better embarassing record than 1 European victory in 31 years (and even that one was 20 years ago!). That genuinely is embarassing!

Wow a post from you slagging Hibs. Now there's a first.

[Alicky Ranks]

Wow a post from you slagging Hibs. Now there's a first.


He's right though. too many folk allow the fact it's funny to see the Old Firm made to squirm to obscure the fact that our own (once very proud) European record has been abysmal since the 70s.

[crewetollhibee]

Can we please stop all this nonsense about us being a joke or laughing stock ? WITH WHO ? We haven't spent our time over the years gloating at Austria, Malta , Liechtenstein or whoever happens to be at the bottom of the pile, so why are we so deluded to think that our European cousins have nothing else to do but analyse our performances ? Each Nation and club supporters only care for their own country/team. We are crap at the moment yes, but don't think for one minute anyone else gives a flying one. They don't. GGTTH.

[Jack]

As others have said no one outside Scottish football really cares, or even notices what going on here.

In fact I think it would probably be the opposite. Folk only notice positive Scottish results because it’s a bit of a surprise!

[vahibbie]

Will be up for gloating at OF European defeats when we have some justification - i.e. after we have a slightly better embarassing record than 1 European victory in 31 years (and even that one was 20 years ago!). That genuinely is embarassing!
:bye:

[tony]

We are crap at the moment yes, but don't think for one minute anyone else gives a flying one. They don't. GGTTH.

I agree with you that no one else cares. And I'd also agree that some and maybe most Scottish fans wouldn't care as long as we were doing 'well'. What does seem to be the case is that, little blips apart when Rangers bored their way to the final, our football in this country has stopped moving with the times over the past 30 odd years. My own opinion is that this has a lot to do with our terrible set ups for all that time and the stranglehold of the OF. Both the Premiere League and OF killed youth and flair, one by making the league so tight that safety first football became order of the day, and secondly by the OF hoovering up the talent and putting them on the bench, thus stopping them developing and stopping us from competing. What we have now is the fruits of all this. Hard working, 100% footballers with precious little in the way of wit, imagination or even basic technique. I watched the Hibs St Mirren game and St Mirren looked liked they'd all been cloned. I've supported, and always loved my team because we had a little bit in us that gave time and space for someone who could sometimes make you smile when they had the ball. On a positive note I think that some of the younger managers are trying to move things forward, including Hughes, and that we may start to see things change across Scotland, slowly, over the next few years. Until then we can enjoy one of the horrible old guard in Smith carrying on making our football disliked across Europe, taken apart by a modest team who are simply better in every single department.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Look at Germany.

For a country of that size and given its European pedigree their clubs recent European record is gash.

But the fans dont seem to give a damn, German league matches are near enough sold out every weekend.

The players are of a standard short of those in England, Spain and perhaps Italy, but the football is competative and you would be pushed every year to pick the league winner.

Success in Europe aint everything so long as the domestic football is exciting and I think thats what the SPL should be thinking about.

IMO if the SPL gets more competative coz the ugly sisters are rank then great.

Its just as worthwhile watching a league where your team has a chance, even if the football isnt champions league standard.

Dont get me wrong, doing well in Europe and having your football respected is always great, but you can still enjoy the game without that in the hope that it will come along later.

[Bad Martini]

Better to be yourself and ***** than join with someone and become something you're not for the purpose of success.

By that logic you could see an argument in celtic and rangers joining forces and becoming Glasgow Utd, you could say the same for hearts and hibs. **** that...

I'd rather be ourselves and be ***** or reach whatever level we can under our own steam than forming some daft union with the rest of the UK for some team that ultimately means nothing to anyone.

[FrankDiscussion]

Putting aside the amusement factor at the huns result, am I alone in feeling a degree of embarrassment at this latest European fiasco for a Scottish team? Every single one of our representatives in Europe this season has suffered embarrassing results, and in several cases been humiliated. The huns are the reigning champions of Scotland ie THE BEST CLUB SIDE OUR NATION HAS TO OFFER. What does that say about the standard of our club game?

As for the national side, well, six successive failures to qualify for a major tournament (the latest from probably the easiest group they could have hoped for) says it all.

Scotland as a football nation has become a laughing stock. As I've said before, my own solution would be to introduce a UK league and UK team in the hope that it would result in a long-term lifting of standards, but that's not to everyone's liking. If not that, though, then what?

We can laugh at them all we want tonight, but let's face it there's a very good chance that what is clearly a woeful Rangers side will still be good enough to beat Hibs on Saturday.

You start off well, but the part in bold is so far off the mark it's not true.

I'm not attacking you personally, I'm sure you have reasons for thinking this way, but to me it just seems like glory hunting. Think about it this way: Hibs are utter garbage, in the middle of the first division for years and along come Premier league Hearts who say, come on, let's unite the clans under the name Edinburgh United or something. Are you going to watch that team? I don't want a National Conversation, but the UK really has nothing to do with me, and even a UK team made up entirely of boys born in Leith wouldn't interest me. The argument that the majority of the team would be English is immaterial, it's the fact that we are Scottish and hiding under the banner of a different nationality does not improve our league, national team or national identity, it does exactly the opposite.

If you want actual improvement in Scottish quality, then merging in with an other better "product" only ends up in us making up the numbers. This is an old debate, but my vierw is that the league is suffocated by repetition. Let's get a home-away 16 team league, if we need more games, expand the league cup. It also takes genuine ambition, not a defeatist attitude of "we're pish and always will be, so let's go and join the Championship"

By the way, Scotland's World Cup group was not easy, but we did make a cow's teat of it. Even if we finished 2nd, we were still up against it.

If Rangers win on Saturday it won't be because we're worse than them and therefore the entire country is gash, it'll be because the best manager in the league has got throught to his highly paid international stars that they should not be losing at home to anyone, least of all some upstarts from Romania and that he'll be buggered if this Hibs mob are swaggerin through here to take the pish.

We will win though.

[Russian Hibs Fan]

UK Team and UK League? Please, NO!!!!!!

[Phil D. Rolls]

This despair runs deep. I heard the Scottish goalkeeper decided to throw himself in front of a bus. Unfortunately it went under him.

[KerPlunk]

I couldnt care less about the Scottish co-efficent , how pathetic the OF are.
We are better than we were last year. They got humped tonight, I enjoyed it, welcome to the real world glory hunters. I will enjoy smirking to all the glory hunting gobshoots at work tomorrow
I cant recall Hibs profiting when they done well in Europe so dont see why it should go against us when they they get PUMPED
The team that beat Rancid tonight are no bigger than St Johnstone , that is what is possible with a bit belief and good fortune

That last sentence should read :-

"...that is what is possible with a bit belief and genuinely neutral officials."

:agree: