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View Full Version : So what's the equivalent standard of the SPL then?



Hakim Sar
18-08-2011, 07:55 PM
We have talked in last year or two that the hibs team would be graded as league 1. I reckon I am now resigned to our league being lower after watching tonight.

What's our English equivalent in your eyes?

Capt Mainwaring
18-08-2011, 08:07 PM
Very bottom of the Championship into League 1

Sean1875
18-08-2011, 08:12 PM
Mid-Top League 1. Depressing stuff.

HiBremian
18-08-2011, 08:15 PM
I watch German football here regularly. I reckon we're no better than Liga 3, the lowest pro league.:bitchy:

Hakim Sar
18-08-2011, 08:23 PM
I think we are being supremely optimistic quoting championship. I think bottom league 2.

HUTCHYHIBBY
18-08-2011, 08:25 PM
Relegation from Championship, OF as they are at the moment - play offs at best.

LancashireHibby
18-08-2011, 08:25 PM
Very bottom of the Championship into League 1

That's probably about right, though I would suggest that the Old Firm are the bottom of the Championship and the rest of us are, at best, in mid table in League One.

Leishy1995
18-08-2011, 08:25 PM
League 1, at our famous best.

Sir David Gray
18-08-2011, 08:28 PM
Hibs are probably as good as a middle of the table team in League One.

Alfred E Newman
18-08-2011, 08:33 PM
We have talked in last year or two that the hibs team would be graded as league 1. I reckon I am now resigned to our league being lower after watching tonight.

What's our English equivalent in your eyes?

Football Combination.

Ozyhibby
18-08-2011, 08:34 PM
Fact is that we can produce better players than we can afford to buy and should be concentrating on bringing more players through the youth set up.

James.
18-08-2011, 08:42 PM
I think League 1 is being kind - we would be a mid to top League 2 side.

Allant1981
18-08-2011, 08:46 PM
I reckon a few teams in the spl would hold their own in the championship, some of the games i watched last season were dire and thats with them spending a lot more on players

Bishop Hibee
18-08-2011, 08:48 PM
OF would be lower Premiership/top half Championship. Rest of the league would be lower Championship on a sliding scale into upper league 1.

Hearts were awful in the first half. If they'd came out battling then they would never have lost by 5. Tactics were dire.

WindyMiller
18-08-2011, 08:50 PM
That's probably about right, though I would suggest that the Old Firm are the bottom of the Championship and the rest of us are, at best, in mid table in League One.

:agree:

That would be my opinion having watched Bournemouth a few times.

HibbiesandtheBaddies
18-08-2011, 08:51 PM
To be fair Spurs are a very good side, was it last 8? in champs league last season?

And a possible reason that they're playing in the Europa league this season is down to them not being able to sustain results in the EPL due to their run in europe.

Lee
18-08-2011, 08:52 PM
Bottom of the Championship / League One is probably about right.

European results tonight really hit home - Rangers and Hearts lose (or pumped in Hearts case!) while Celtic look like drawing at home (so they're effectively out too, no danger they will win away from home) while Stoke win away from home, Fulham give Dnipro a do-in and Birmingham pick up a decent enough result away from home too...it's when our teams play in Europe you really see how cr@p our league has become!

Gatecrasher
18-08-2011, 08:53 PM
OF would be lower Premiership/top half Championship. Rest of the league would be lower Championship on a sliding scale into upper league 1.

Hearts were awful in the first half. If they'd came out battling then they would never have lost by 5. Tactics were dire.

Spurs never left 2nd gear all game, if they treated it like an EPL game it would be going on 10 easy imo

WindyMiller
18-08-2011, 08:55 PM
OF would be lower Premiership/top half Championship. Rest of the league would be lower Championship on a sliding scale into upper league 1.

Hearts were awful in the first half. If they'd came out battling then they would never have lost by 5. Tactics were dire.

In the long term, the OF's crowds would see them mid-EPL.

Us, the Dons and Hertz could expect to climb from League One once the t.v. money kicked in.

bingo70
18-08-2011, 09:01 PM
Before we go kicking our own game to much, before we joined these leagues would we get to spend what they do in the transfer market? If the old firm had a budget similiar to a top premiership side they'd do fine down there and if we had the same budget as a lower premiership/championship side we'd be competitive down there but right now of course we're not as good as the championship, it'd be ridiculous to expect us to be.

A country with a population about 10x the size of ours with billions to spend more than us shouldn't be a benchmark for how good our league is, far more conerning for the state of the league is that both the old firm are on the wrong end of bad results against teams from similar sized countries.

The dumbos getting pumped by spurs, enjoyable though it was doesnt tell us anything about the state of our game IMO.

alexedwards
18-08-2011, 09:04 PM
We have talked in last year or two that the hibs team would be graded as league 1. I reckon I am now resigned to our league being lower after watching tonight.

What's our English equivalent in your eyes?


League 2 except OF who would be bottom half Champ.

Since90+2
18-08-2011, 09:05 PM
I think some people may be overeacting a wee tad when trying to analyse the standard of the SPL. Lets not forget how well Spurs did in the CL last season. They are probably roughly on a par with sides like Arsenal , Man City and Liverpool.

If Hibs played in England they'd probably be in a relegation fight in The Championship or upper level of League 1 but not as far down as League 2.

BigKev
18-08-2011, 09:06 PM
I generally see Sheffield Wednesday 4-5 times a year and Hibs would be top half of League 1 on current form but given the same budget as the Championship clubs could comfortably hold their own in that division.

The lack of investment in the Scottish game has brought it to it's knees.

Hibercelona
18-08-2011, 09:08 PM
Hibs when they're on top form (which seems so long ago) could easily battle it out in the middle of the Championship league.

The current Hibs team would struggle in League 1. :boo hoo:

And if we were to get relegated to the first division on our current form, I don't think we'd be getting straight back up again.

sahib
18-08-2011, 09:19 PM
Fact is that we can produce better players than we can afford to buy and should be concentrating on bringing more players through the youth set up.

I am with you 100%. Not easy to do, it has to be said, but this is the way we should go, whenever possible.

Lee
18-08-2011, 09:20 PM
Before we go kicking our own game to much, before we joined these leagues would we get to spend what they do in the transfer market? If the old firm had a budget similiar to a top premiership side they'd do fine down there and if we had the same budget as a lower premiership/championship side we'd be competitive down there but right now of course we're not as good as the championship, it'd be ridiculous to expect us to be.

A country with a population about 10x the size of ours with billions to spend more than us shouldn't be a benchmark for how good our league is, far more conerning for the state of the league is that both the old firm are on the wrong end of bad results against teams from similar sized countries.

The dumbos getting pumped by spurs, enjoyable though it was doesnt tell us anything about the state of our game IMO.

While I agree with your point when comparing our game to EPL, why do our teams so regularly get embarrassed in Europe? Bar Rangers and Celtic getting to the UEFA / Europa League Final, the results of our teams in Europe have been shocking.

While lack of investment is one part of the problem, the way we go about the game is certainly a factor too - most players in Scotland treat a football like a hot potato, or hoof it up the park in the hope someone wins a knockdown or a loose ball. When you look at teams abroad (including nations with a population as small as ours) they get the basics right that we fail to do - play the simple pass if nothing else is on and don't be afraid to keep hold of the ball and wait for the right pass, even with opposition players around you...."man on" in Scotland generally means "get the ball to ****!!"

The Tubs
18-08-2011, 09:21 PM
I generally see Sheffield Wednesday 4-5 times a year and Hibs would be top half of League 1 on current form but given the same budget as the Championship clubs could comfortably hold their own in that division.

The lack of investment in the Scottish game has brought it to it's knees.

I would say it's a lot more than the lack of investment in players. In my opinion, the more important factors would be: SKY tv, the number of cars on Scottish roads, the Largs mafia, 10/12 team league and last, but by no means least, the growing sickness which surrounds the old firm. All this without mentioning youth football, of which I have no knowledge.

If this game had been played 20 years ago, even with Lineker & Gazza, the ****bos would never have taken such a tanking.

HH81
18-08-2011, 09:26 PM
I was told the other day by a Huddersfield fan......

Colin Nish was fantastic last night and the best player on the pitch. I'm surprised Hibs let him go.

Do I think Hibs would beat Hudderfield Town - Yes I do.

bingo70
18-08-2011, 09:30 PM
While I agree with your point when comparing our game to EPL, why do our teams so regularly get embarrassed in Europe? Bar Rangers and Celtic getting to the UEFA / Europa League Final, the results of our teams in Europe have been shocking.

While lack of investment is one part of the problem, the way we go about the game is certainly a factor too - most players in Scotland treat a football like a hot potato, or hoof it up the park in the hope someone wins a knockdown or a loose ball. When you look at teams abroad (including nations with a population as small as ours) they get the basics right that we fail to do - play the simple pass if nothing else is on and don't be afraid to keep hold of the ball and wait for the right pass, even with opposition players around you...."man on" in Scotland generally means "get the ball to ****!!"

Competely agree with all you say i just don't think hertz getting pumped the night has any relevance whatsoever in the debate about how pish our game is.

IMO it's down to a lack of indoor facilities and the time of year we play, the coaches spend more time trying to keep the players warm rather than improving their technical ability, if a player is doing something wrong is he going to make him stand there in the freezing cold doing it over and over again until he gets it right? doubt it the boy would lose interest and freeze!

I also think there's the general standard pass the buck answer of 'we need to look at the grassroots' is part of the problem, when was the last time you heard about a young scottish team doing badly at an international tournament? I don't have any involvement with youth football but i keep hearing about the likes of hibs doing well at that italian tournament but it never comes to anything so IMO the problem isn't with grassroots, it's the ability to turn the young players at 13/14 years old into good players at 15-20 years old thats the problem.

How we fix it i don't know but we need to do something.

Kevvy1875
18-08-2011, 09:35 PM
I would say it's a lot more than the lack of investment in players. In my opinion, the more important factors would be: SKY tv, the number of cars on Scottish roads, the Largs mafia, 10/12 team league and last, but by no means least, the growing sickness which surrounds the old firm. All this without mentioning youth football, of which I have no knowledge.

If this game had been played 20 years ago, even with Lineker & Gazza, the ****bos would never have taken such a tanking.

This actually did happen and the score was 1-1(pre-season friendly). My Yam uncle took me along so as I could see Gazza play(post 90' world cup hysteria style).

tony
18-08-2011, 09:48 PM
While lack of investment is one part of the problem, the way we go about the game is certainly a factor too - most players in Scotland treat a football like a hot potato, or hoof it up the park in the hope someone wins a knockdown or a loose ball. When you look at teams abroad (including nations with a population as small as ours) they get the basics right that we fail to do - play the simple pass if nothing else is on and don't be afraid to keep hold of the ball and wait for the right pass, even with opposition players around you...."man on" in Scotland generally means "get the ball to ****!!"[/QUOTE]

Agree 100%. It all comes back to the way we play, and the way we play from a very young age. The small country argument is a cop out (Uruguay have a population of 3.3 million and won the Copa America and got to the semis of the World Cup) And we, the supporters, have to share in that, with the get it up the park and get in the box approach. Tonight might have been funny but I was watching it in London with some friends and I have to admit it was also mildly embarassing. Remember, I couldn't gloat too much as we are so poor we couldn't even get near the Europa League playoffs....................whats the way forward? Taking a note of the Killie approach at the moment might not be bad for starters...............

The Tubs
18-08-2011, 09:48 PM
This actually did happen and the score was 1-1(pre-season friendly). My Yam uncle took me along so as I could see Gazza play(post 90' world cup hysteria style).

I think I mind it, they had just signed sicknote Anderton, had they no?

HibsCan
18-08-2011, 09:48 PM
Before we go kicking our own game to much, before we joined these leagues would we get to spend what they do in the transfer market? If the old firm had a budget similiar to a top premiership side they'd do fine down there and if we had the same budget as a lower premiership/championship side we'd be competitive down there but right now of course we're not as good as the championship, it'd be ridiculous to expect us to be.

A country with a population about 10x the size of ours with billions to spend more than us shouldn't be a benchmark for how good our league is, far more conerning for the state of the league is that both the old firm are on the wrong end of bad results against teams from similar sized countries.

The dumbos getting pumped by spurs, enjoyable though it was doesnt tell us anything about the state of our game IMO.


That's the best post of the day. If Hibs would keep their young talent and not feed them to the old firm and others. With better TV money to bolster the squad with some healthy veterans.

Cabbage East
18-08-2011, 09:50 PM
Why compare us to the English? They are a much larger country. But if I had to, I'd say championship level. Don't let sky sports brainwash you into thinking otherwise. It ain't as good as they make out down there, it's all marketing.

tony
18-08-2011, 09:56 PM
Competely agree with all you say i just don't think hertz getting pumped the night has any relevance whatsoever in the debate about how pish our game is.

IMO it's down to a lack of indoor facilities and the time of year we play, the coaches spend more time trying to keep the players warm rather than improving their technical ability, if a player is doing something wrong is he going to make him stand there in the freezing cold doing it over and over again until he gets it right? doubt it the boy would lose interest and freeze!

I also think there's the general standard pass the buck answer of 'we need to look at the grassroots' is part of the problem, when was the last time you heard about a young scottish team doing badly at an international tournament? I don't have any involvement with youth football but i keep hearing about the likes of hibs doing well at that italian tournament but it never comes to anything so IMO the problem isn't with grassroots, it's the ability to turn the young players at 13/14 years old into good players at 15-20 years old thats the problem.

How we fix it i don't know but we need to do something.

If you get a chance to look at youth football you start to see where the problem is. Time and time again the boys that are picked up at 11,12,13 are the bigger, the stronger, the faster. These boys are the ones who get the 'top' coaching, play in the top teams and compete well in all those tournaments around the world. And once they get to 16, 17 and beyond the rest of the world catches up and takes over as they have all invested in players who also have - on top of those prized Scottish attributes - skill, awareness and intelligence. As one of the top trainers said not so long ago, the likes of Xavi and Iniesta would never have made it in Scotland. Tells you everything you need to know about the plight of Scottish football.

stoneyburn hibs
18-08-2011, 10:04 PM
right now hibs are league one material , imo gap will just keep growing , ten years from now league 2 , pretty sad really

Lee
18-08-2011, 11:02 PM
Competely agree with all you say i just don't think hertz getting pumped the night has any relevance whatsoever in the debate about how pish our game is.

IMO it's down to a lack of indoor facilities and the time of year we play, the coaches spend more time trying to keep the players warm rather than improving their technical ability, if a player is doing something wrong is he going to make him stand there in the freezing cold doing it over and over again until he gets it right? doubt it the boy would lose interest and freeze!

I also think there's the general standard pass the buck answer of 'we need to look at the grassroots' is part of the problem, when was the last time you heard about a young scottish team doing badly at an international tournament? I don't have any involvement with youth football but i keep hearing about the likes of hibs doing well at that italian tournament but it never comes to anything so IMO the problem isn't with grassroots, it's the ability to turn the young players at 13/14 years old into good players at 15-20 years old thats the problem.

How we fix it i don't know but we need to do something.

:top marksThink the other problem is we seem to focus on the physical side of development too much, as apposed to the kids technical ability....hear about kids being released from clubs all the time for being "too small" or "not physically able to cope with the demands of Scottish / British football". Don't think this is a Scottish problem to be fair, seems to be the case in England too, only difference is they have the money to bring in good talent from abroad (and paper over the cracks with good marketing telling you how wonderful the Premiership is!)

Most players from the Barca or Spain team would make our midfield from last year look like giants - the sooner the penny drops with British football that focusing on the basics (such as passing to feet and thinking more about positioning / movement after a pass) counts for more than just being strong and "being a trier" the better!

Baader
18-08-2011, 11:11 PM
Watch a lot of Football League down here as I work in it. Hibs would not be any worse than League 1. League 2 is overall pretty poor and although there are some big teams in League 1 who've fallen on hard times (Sheffield clubs, Charlton etc.) we would be around the lower half of Championship right now. certainly no worse than the likes of Barnsley and Doncaster...

Kaiser1962
19-08-2011, 06:30 AM
Before we go kicking our own game to much, before we joined these leagues would we get to spend what they do in the transfer market? If the old firm had a budget similiar to a top premiership side they'd do fine down there and if we had the same budget as a lower premiership/championship side we'd be competitive down there but right now of course we're not as good as the championship, it'd be ridiculous to expect us to be.

A country with a population about 10x the size of ours with billions to spend more than us shouldn't be a benchmark for how good our league is, far more conerning for the state of the league is that both the old firm are on the wrong end of bad results against teams from similar sized countries.

The dumbos getting pumped by spurs, enjoyable though it was doesnt tell us anything about the state of our game IMO.

Agree. I think that Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen would actually grow and develop in England and I do think we might be yo yo clubs between the EPL and Championship. We may even, properly run, have a good spell in the EPL as I dont believe we are any less of a club than Blackburn, Wigan, Bolton or the likes.

People talk about "investment" all the time but there is absolutely no point in the current closed shop as it's not really an investment as such, it's throwing money down the drain. Look at the Yams. Vlad has thrown around £60m at them and are they any closer to the OF or the CL? We all saw the answer last night.

Dashing Bob S
19-08-2011, 06:50 AM
As I said on another thread, the real gap is between the top six in England and other other clubs on these islands. Spurs did Wigan 9-1 the season before last and that six will hannd out plenty Yammerings to other EPL clubs this season.

Money, pure and simply is the answer. There's no way Wigan are a bigger club than Hibs or Hearts. They are well-managed and have had years of TV money behind them, inflating their status, simply because they operate in a bigger market.

To progress, we to forget about the SPL and ''Scottish" football and join other small nations in a north European league set up. Otherwise, I can see part-time football looming for many 'top flight' Scottish clubs.

Kaiser1962
19-08-2011, 06:59 AM
As I said on another thread, the real gap is between the top six in England and other other clubs on these islands. Spurs did Wigan 9-1 the season before last and that six will hannd out plenty Yammerings to other EPL clubs this season.

Money, pure and simply is the answer. There's no way Wigan are a bigger club than Hibs or Hearts. They are well-managed and have had years of TV money behind them, inflating their status, simply because they operate in a bigger market.

To progress, we to forget about the SPL and ''Scottish" football and join other small nations in a north European league set up. Otherwise, I can see part-time football looming for many 'top flight' Scottish clubs.

And Dave Whelan's money :greengrin

Albion Hibs
19-08-2011, 07:31 AM
I think the old firm would likely be in and around the bottom of the premiership, with clubs like Hibs being mid table in the championship.

heretoday
19-08-2011, 07:36 AM
We are League 2 at the moment. The Old Firm are League 1 at best.

Scorrie
19-08-2011, 07:47 AM
As I said on another thread, the real gap is between the top six in England and other other clubs on these islands. Spurs did Wigan 9-1 the season before last and that six will hannd out plenty Yammerings to other EPL clubs this season.

Money, pure and simply is the answer. There's no way Wigan are a bigger club than Hibs or Hearts. They are well-managed and have had years of TV money behind them, inflating their status, simply because they operate in a bigger market.

To progress, we to forget about the SPL and ''Scottish" football and join other small nations in a north European league set up. Otherwise, I can see part-time football looming for many 'top flight' Scottish clubs.

Agree with this. The money issue is key. After all, it wasnt too long ago the OF got to European finals with the quality of players like Larsson; players who even the OF can't seem to attract now. The gap in the EPL between the top and bottom is pretty wide. I still think that if the SPL was expanded, there are decent players in Division 1 who dont get a chance at the top level as SPL clubs (including Hibs) in recent years seem happier to buy in some average / below average EPL / Championship reserve or youth player rather than bring in more seasoned pros from Div 1. Perhaps Scottish kids give up as they arent given the opportunity to play at the top level? I can't believe that there isnt the talent there anymore compared with 20 / 30 years ago although there are more things for kids to do?

Lucius Apuleius
19-08-2011, 08:17 AM
I agree with DBS. Give us the same amount of money (never going to happen). Ony then will we see football approximating the top half dozen EPL teams. As shown at the weekend with Man C we are going to see some big scores again this season down there between the top guys and the rest. I also reckon that the top half dozen teams down there plus the top couple in most top leagues in europe would beat most international teams. Don,t kid ourselves, yip we are not very good at the minute, but outside the top few in any league, there is a lot of keech out there. Did I not hear the commentator on Sunday say we had a beautiful movement of around a dozen passes on Sunday? It can be done but you usually get lumped sometime in the move by some big clogger.

hibee81
19-08-2011, 08:18 AM
Lets look at it this way, we played sunderland in a freindly (yes i know it was a freindly, but do teams go out to get beat, i dont think so) and end up with a creditable draw with a very young side. Sunderland a week later field the exact same against a team whom many are backing to win the premiership in liverpool was it just the fact that we played well on the day OR they were gash, personnaly i dont think there is that big a gulf in the leagues and think that we would do reasonably well in the championship. Just my opinion of course.

Albion Hibs
19-08-2011, 10:39 AM
Lets look at it this way, we played sunderland in a freindly (yes i know it was a freindly, but do teams go out to get beat, i dont think so) and end up with a creditable draw with a very young side. Sunderland a week later field the exact same against a team whom many are backing to win the premiership in liverpool was it just the fact that we played well on the day OR they were gash, personnaly i dont think there is that big a gulf in the leagues and think that we would do reasonably well in the championship. Just my opinion of course.

You are right, add in Bolton and Blackburn the year before as well. I know they are only friendlies and more about getting match fitness and formations sorted out but if they were that much better than some seem to think then regardless of what the match meant we would have been gubbed.

In any event there is no chance we are as far down as league two or even one. These leagues are shocking, dont get me wrong, our players would probably loose everything in the air as it is 90 mins of head tennis but as soon as the ball landed on the ground, I feel pretty confident we would win quite easily.

It must be remembered that Spurs and the other top five teams in the EPL will dish out more than a few 4 maybe even 5 nil wins this season. I would stay with what I said before the old firm bottom of the EPL (unless of course they got there dream move in which case they would be substantially higher than that) with the balance of the SPL mid championship.

Twa Cairpets
19-08-2011, 10:41 AM
We are League 2 at the moment. The Old Firm are League 1 at best.

Utter garbage.

I go to watch a fair bit of English football at all levels, and the OF are clearly EPL standard (although lower end), and Hibs, Hearts and a few others are Championship. To suggest otherwise is ignorance. If Spurs beat someone in the league 5-0 will they be castigated for being not worthy of the EPL? Naw.

Thecat23
19-08-2011, 10:50 AM
Utter garbage.

I go to watch a fair bit of English football at all levels, and the OF are clearly EPL standard (although lower end), and Hibs, Hearts and a few others are Championship. To suggest otherwise is ignorance. If Spurs beat someone in the league 5-0 will they be castigated for being not worthy of the EPL? Naw.

I've also watched a few championship games and Hibs are not anywhere near good enough for that league. The standard is very good and the games are sometimes alot more entertaining than the EPL. Sorry mate but Hibs are League one.

Dashing Bob S
19-08-2011, 11:11 AM
I've also watched a few championship games and Hibs are not anywhere near good enough for that league. The standard is very good and the games are sometimes alot more entertaining than the EPL. Sorry mate but Hibs are League one.

Right now that's Scotland, not England.

Sammy7nil
19-08-2011, 11:20 AM
There are scores like this all the time in the EPL
Wigan 9 - 0
Arsenal 6 Everton 1
Watford skelpped 8 - 1
C Palce lost 5,6 and 7 goals a few times.

It happens yes there is a huge gul buthere is a huge gulf in the EPL too.

Twa Cairpets
19-08-2011, 11:45 AM
I've also watched a few championship games and Hibs are not anywhere near good enough for that league. The standard is very good and the games are sometimes alot more entertaining than the EPL. Sorry mate but Hibs are League one.

Probably agree to diasgree, but people suggesting League 2 are miles off the mark.

Thinking back to the end of last season for example, I saw Rochdale v Charlton, top end of League 1 and felt at the time (dire as we were) that Hibs would more than compete with either of them.

Dinkydoo
19-08-2011, 11:54 AM
OF would, at the moment, be Championship level and with better sponsership and tv money coming in they'd have cemented themselves into the bottom - middle area of the EPL within five years.

Hibs and Hearts (Aberdeen..?) with comparable fan bases would be League 1 standard at present and within 5 years, mid Championship.

Golden Bear
19-08-2011, 12:54 PM
I've just had a look through the Hearts, Rangers and Celtic's starting line ups for last night's games.

I wasn't really surprised to find that out of the 33 players, only 13 were Scots. So not only were the results an embarressment to the SPL, it probably makes things worse that so few Scots were considered good enough to make the starting elevens.

As a nation we don't seem to be producing the conveyor belt of talent that we once did or is it simple a case that Clubs are now taking the easy option by signing players as a short term fix rather than spending the time and money to develop home grown talent.

Maybe us fans should also shoulder some responsibility as we demand instant success which in turn puts additional pressure on Club Chairmen and Managers. Patience is not a word which sits easy in professional football these days.

Bringing back competitive Reserve team Football would go some way to providing a buffer between our youth teams and the first team squad but as the ugly sisters seem dead against such a move then I guess it's a dead duck.

Something need to be done that's for sure.

LancashireHibby
19-08-2011, 01:20 PM
There are scores like this all the time in the EPL
Wigan 9 - 0
Arsenal 6 Everton 1
Watford skelpped 8 - 1
C Palce lost 5,6 and 7 goals a few times.

It happens yes there is a huge gul buthere is a huge gulf in the EPL too.

All the time? Far from it. Don't forget Wigan won at White Hart Lane the year after the 9-0 loss!

West Upper
19-08-2011, 03:27 PM
The OF would be mid table championship teams. The rest would be in league 1.

Sir David Gray
19-08-2011, 03:57 PM
I've just had a look through the Hearts, Rangers and Celtic's starting line ups for last night's games.

I wasn't really surprised to find that out of the 33 players, only 13 were Scots. So not only were the results an embarressment to the SPL, it probably makes things worse that so few Scots were considered good enough to make the starting elevens.

As a nation we don't seem to be producing the conveyor belt of talent that we once did or is it simple a case that Clubs are now taking the easy option by signing players as a short term fix rather than spending the time and money to develop home grown talent.

Maybe us fans should also shoulder some responsibility as we demand instant success which in turn puts additional pressure on Club Chairmen and Managers. Patience is not a word which sits easy in professional football these days.

Bringing back competitive Reserve team Football would go some way to providing a buffer between our youth teams and the first team squad but as the ugly sisters seem dead against such a move then I guess it's a dead duck.

Something need to be done that's for sure.

The figures weren't all that good for the English teams either, in that respect.

Out of the 44 players who started for Birmingham, Tottenham, Fulham and Stoke last night, only 19 of them were English.

So whilst the English Premiership is undoubtedly thriving and one of the best leagues in world football, it's not difficult to see why the English national team struggles.

The stats weren't any better the night before when Arsenal were playing as only 2 English players started for them against Udinese.