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IanM
27-08-2015, 11:12 AM
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/record-fc-dundee-united-celtic-6323654

Jim44
27-08-2015, 11:40 AM
Very well expressed. Very refreshing compaired to the drivel written in this space by a Sevco moron a couple of weeks ago. I find it hard to understand why the DR gives an opportunity to other teams' supporters to write anti Ugly Sisters sentiments.

liamh2202
27-08-2015, 11:45 AM
Out of interest what does the article say. Not giving that rags website any hits

IanM
27-08-2015, 11:51 AM
Record FC Dundee United: Celtic could win fifty in a row but it means nothing in the grand scheme of things

BLOGGER Derek Keilloh thinks Hoops fans need to wake up and realise winning the Premiership title with their budget isn't worth crowing about.

THAT game was irrelevant. Four games of every season, in effect, don't matter.
Due to United (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/dundee-united-fc) being in the same division as Celtic (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/celtic-fc), we might be deluded into thinking they are our rivals. They're not. We happen to share a country with them, but that's more or less all we have in common.
That was a reserve team we were up against, by and large. And they were still light years ahead of us. The gulf didn't seem to bother the Celtic fans, with their songs about winning ten in a row. (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-match-reports/dundee-united-1-celtic-3-6299346)
Try singing it to someone who cares.
These are the sort of people who in Roman times would have been in the Colosseum cheering on the lions.
It's the sort of mentality where your club can sign the three best players of another club, and then complain about a lack of competition. Trying to reconcile that in our heads would give most of us an aneurysm. Not John Collins, though. Possibly because an aneurysm requires ownership of a brain.

It doesn't stop their charmless manager doing his cringeworthy roar (twice!) after the game, even though it was about as much of a competitive exercise as killing a spider in your bath is.
Celebrating like that after beating a Scottish Premiership side seems like a clear case of punching down to me. The fact they don't see it as embarrassing says a lot, I think.
Games against Celtic, and Rangers when they were around, are very much things to be endured, like root canal treatment or brussel sprouts at Christmas.
It's hard to know during these games whether to hate them, or Dundee United, or myself, or football in general.
Either way, I do feel I need to cleanse my palate afterwards. By watching a nice film, for example. Or listening to one of my favourite albums. Or having a good wash, at the very least.

In a wider sense, football is no longer a sport. Not really.
Thanks to the erroneously named Champions League, and by television, the game has been corrupted and distorted by money. There was always a glass ceiling to a certain extent, but unless you find an oligarch from somewhere, you're not getting into this club.
The bigger clubs are not interested in competition. It's about making money to increase the gap on the poor domestic teams they like to duff up between European games.
The rich get richer, the gap gets bigger, and they like to convince us it's for our own good.
When the gap gets so big that a club the size of Juventus cannot hold on to Paul Pogba, what chance do we have?
The problem exists throughout Europe, to the extent that you'd need to put the mortgage on Bayern or PSG winning their respective leagues to win back enough to buy yourself a pint.
But back to Scotland. The Old Firm are trapped. Trapped in a country that doesn't engage, or even interest them. A league they are often in open contempt towards. Kidding themselves that beating teams with about 10% of their budget is any kind of achievement.

They are too big for the country they are in, in effect, due to the sheer gravitational pull of Glasgow within Scottish football, encouraged by outdated notions of political and religious identity most of the rest of us moved on from several decades ago.
The knowledge that so many buses depart towns up and down Scotland for Ibrox or Celtic Park every Saturday is unimaginably depressing.
They can't go down south, as England don't want them. Although Rangers did get to play league games in Berwick a couple of years ago, which I suppose is a start.
I do think a European league is an inevitability as the bigger European clubs will surely push for it over the next few years. The sooner they all leave and let the rest of us get on with it, the better.
Despite their desperate attempts to get out over the years, whenever the rest of us suggest we might be better off if they did go, they cry about how we couldn't possibly cope without them. Hoping that Stockholm Syndrome might kick in, I suppose.
We'd cope. Scottish football would find a level.
OK, that level might be slightly below the current standard, but if there was a drop off it probably won't be noticeable. And so what if it did?

Like I said, we'd find our level.
If we lost the Old Firm, we might struggle to hold onto our best players. Luckily, that doesn't happen now.
I don't know how I'd cope with having religious ditties sung at me for 90 minutes. Or without city centre pubs being turned into no go areas.
Or without having to look at Leigh Griffiths.
Or without having lunchtime kick offs, partly for TV and partly because their fans cannot be trusted to behave if the game kicks off any later than 3pm, like they are less evolved Gremlins. I might even be able to have a pint at the game, if I fancied it.
I bet our games against Dundee and Aberdeen would still sell out too. Besides, for all the talk of how the presence of the Old Firm boosts attendances, the Celtic game was actually Dundee United's lowest attendance so far this season. Funny how things turn out.
You never know. As the rest of us might actually have a shot at winning something, crowds might even go up.
But at the moment, we have a situation where the financial gap is so huge, than only one side can ever, or probably will ever, win the league. I don't know how that can be in any way satisfying for Celtic fans, apart from anything else. It doesn't mean anything. How can it?
You know what? Win ten in a row. Or twenty. Or fifty for all I care. No-one cares except you. It's utterly irrelevant.
Sorry.

sambajustice
27-08-2015, 11:54 AM
I'm glad someone has posted on this...

I read the article this morning and I just don't understand this point of view at all from this writer.

What are Celtic and their fans supposed to do? Not support the team? Not win matches? Not win the league and let someone else have a go?

Celtic and Zombie dominance of Scotland is nothing new, they've wrapped up 100 titles between them since the league was properly formed in 1890ish and it can't be far off a similar amount of Scottish Cups.

Granted now, the problem is exaggerated because of the financial gap. I believe the seeds of this were probably sown back in the 90's because clubs were chasing the dream and have paid for it since. We tried to keep up with England when it just wasn't possible. However, it certainly needn't have been the disaster it has been. When there's teams from all manner of countries that we'd class as similar or "minnow" nations that are running the "Pride of Scotland" close or beating them then there's clearly something wrong within the game here.

Anyway, back to the point, are Celtic just supposed to stop playing for a few years? Was there similar cries of "unfair" in the 60's and 70's when they won 9 in row with 11 Scots from Glasgow or thereabouts and the crowds Hibs and others were getting were 20k, 30k, 40k for matches?

There's big teams and there's small teams and that's just life so get on with it. Celtic and The Rangers can't buy EVERY player that teams produce so the clubs just need to start producing better players. Undoubtedly a bit more money would help tie up good younger players for a bit longer and maybe produce a bit of success but generally I think fans in Scotland need to stop whinging.

GreenCastle
27-08-2015, 11:55 AM
Agree with most except this next European league idea.

We have the extended Europa League and Champions League already.

Would love the old firm to disappear !

Would rather battle it out with Aberdeen, Utd and the yams for te league

Jim44
27-08-2015, 12:22 PM
I'm glad someone has posted on this...

I read the article this morning and I just don't understand this point of view at all from this writer.

What are Celtic and their fans supposed to do? Not support the team? Not win matches? Not win the league and let someone else have a go?

Celtic and Zombie dominance of Scotland is nothing new, they've wrapped up 100 titles between them since the league was properly formed in 1890ish and it can't be far off a similar amount of Scottish Cups.

Granted now, the problem is exaggerated because of the financial gap. I believe the seeds of this were probably sown back in the 90's because clubs were chasing the dream and have paid for it since. We tried to keep up with England when it just wasn't possible. However, it certainly needn't have been the disaster it has been. When there's teams from all manner of countries that we'd class as similar or "minnow" nations that are running the "Pride of Scotland" close or beating them then there's clearly something wrong within the game here.

Anyway, back to the point, are Celtic just supposed to stop playing for a few years? Was there similar cries of "unfair" in the 60's and 70's when they won 9 in row with 11 Scots from Glasgow or thereabouts and the crowds Hibs and others were getting were 20k, 30k, 40k for matches?

There's big teams and there's small teams and that's just life so get on with it. Celtic and The Rangers can't buy EVERY player that teams produce so the clubs just need to start producing better players. Undoubtedly a bit more money would help tie up good younger players for a bit longer and maybe produce a bit of success but generally I think fans in Scotland need to stop whinging.

Nobody's denying the boring, perennial and inevitable gap in quality between Celtic and 'the rest'. It's the way they always build their excuses for their own failures on the perceived weaknesses of the rubbish they have to share a league with. If they kept their mouths shut and accepted that, relatively speaking, they're not really very good themselves, there would be less whinging from us minions.

H18S NX
27-08-2015, 12:23 PM
Wow,i wish i could write an article like that.

lucky
27-08-2015, 12:36 PM
The talk is now of a world league not just a European one. With the cash now available in the U.S.A it will be a matter of time before the mega rich clubs go down this line.

Jim44
27-08-2015, 01:01 PM
The talk is now of a world league not just a European one. With the cash now available in the U.S.A it will be a matter of time before the mega rich clubs go down this line.

Does that mean we're stuck with Celtic for the duration? :greengrin

NAE NOOKIE
27-08-2015, 01:18 PM
Totally understand the guys rant to be honest. I agree its not the fault of Celtic's fans ( the Glasgow ones at least ) that their club is untouchable, but as he suggests, when your club has 10 times the budget of everybody else racking up league titles year after year has to eventually lose its meaning. With no Rangers to challenge them Celtic's crowds have dropped dramatically ............ In fact I would be willing to bet that since the demise of their partners in crime the percentage drop at Parkhead is bigger than any other Premiership club, or at Hibs.

One thing the guy said I totally agree with and have said myself on this forum more than once: Even before the demise of Rangers games against the 'old firm' had began to have less and less meaning for me, they were just games to get out of the way .... if you got a result 'brilliant' it was like winning bonus points for the 'real competition' but to be honest if you lost it became less and less of a big deal. The attendance of home fans at games against the old firm at many clubs is no bigger, and in some cases less, than games against more direct rivals like Aberdeen, Dundee Utd, Hearts etc. Back in the day you could guarantee your biggest home support of the season would be one of your games against Celtic or Rangers, but now you are just as likely to see a bigger home turnout against one of the others.

Perhaps one day the OF will play in a European league, but run teams in Scottish football as well with a budget linked to the average of all the other teams in the Premiership .... now that would be acceptable.

jacomo
27-08-2015, 10:51 PM
Does that mean we're stuck with Celtic for the duration? :greengrin

Hopefully they'd get the franchise for Doha or somewhere and properly f*** off.

Nutmegged
28-08-2015, 12:43 AM
Totally understand the guys rant to be honest. I agree its not the fault of Celtic's fans ( the Glasgow ones at least ) that their club is untouchable, but as he suggests, when your club has 10 times the budget of everybody else racking up league titles year after year has to eventually lose its meaning. With no Rangers to challenge them Celtic's crowds have dropped dramatically ............ In fact I would be willing to bet that since the demise of their partners in crime the percentage drop at Parkhead is bigger than any other Premiership club, or at Hibs.

One thing the guy said I totally agree with and have said myself on this forum more than once: Even before the demise of Rangers games against the 'old firm' had began to have less and less meaning for me, they were just games to get out of the way .... if you got a result 'brilliant' it was like winning bonus points for the 'real competition' but to be honest if you lost it became less and less of a big deal. The attendance of home fans at games against the old firm at many clubs is no bigger, and in some cases less, than games against more direct rivals like Aberdeen, Dundee Utd, Hearts etc. Back in the day you could guarantee your biggest home support of the season would be one of your games against Celtic or Rangers, but now you are just as likely to see a bigger home turnout against one of the others.

Perhaps one day the OF will play in a European league, but run teams in Scottish football as well with a budget linked to the average of all the other teams in the Premiership .... now that would be acceptable.

I agree with your last point, if & when Celtic and Sevco move to a European League I fullyy believe they'd still be represented in Scotland's Premiership with "B" teams

micka_weer
28-08-2015, 06:05 AM
I've always thought it must be utterly unfulfilling to be an old firm fan, you expect to win every match and are only disappointed when you don't

Pete
28-08-2015, 05:39 PM
Celtic now after Ryan Christie from Inverness. No doubt we will have people telling us that this is also good for our game.

The game up here is just one big **** joke.

Pretty Boy
28-08-2015, 05:57 PM
I've always thought it must be utterly unfulfilling to be an old firm fan, you expect to win every match and are only disappointed when you don't

After Celtic beat us in the SC final a couple of years back I saw more than a few (I'd say at least a dozen but probably more) Celtic fans who beat Hibs supporters back to where our bus was parked as they hadn't even bothered to stay and watch the presentation.

There's something well wrong there imo. That would be up there with the greatest day of your life for supporters of 40 clubs in Scotland, for the other 2 it's about getting once closer to or moving one further clear of the other.

Whilst it will never happen, and I'd rather it was neither of the 2 clubs currently looking most likely to do it, I would love if another club beat Celtic to the title in the next couple of years.

Smartie
28-08-2015, 05:58 PM
I don't see why people get so upset about Celtic taking the best players from other teams.

Football is a big food chain, bigger and stronger teams take the best players from lower teams and their poorer players drop down levels. Real Madrid are at the top of the food chain and are probably the only club in world football that isn't a selling club.

We happily take the best players from smaller teams than us. That's life.

The problem is when idiots like John Collins come out and try to blame the shortcomings of his team on anyone other than his own team and his own club. To point at the teams you've taken players from as being the reason for you failing is nonsensical.

Sir David Gray
28-08-2015, 07:13 PM
I don't see why people get so upset about Celtic taking the best players from other teams.

Football is a big food chain, bigger and stronger teams take the best players from lower teams and their poorer players drop down levels. Real Madrid are at the top of the food chain and are probably the only club in world football that isn't a selling club.

We happily take the best players from smaller teams than us. That's life.

The problem is when idiots like John Collins come out and try to blame the shortcomings of his team on anyone other than his own team and his own club. To point at the teams you've taken players from as being the reason for you failing is nonsensical.

I think that is a big part of the reason why people get so worked up about it though because Celtic and previously Rangers (RIP) were/are quite happy buying up the best talent in Scotland from other clubs and finish about 20-30 points ahead of the rest but then when they get horsed out of Europe, they then blame it on the lack of competition that they face in Scotland and that causes them not to be ready to face decent European sides.

They can't have it both ways.

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 07:45 PM
Personally I think that for Hibs, Hearts, the infirm and other large city clubs like Dundee to move forward we need a British league.

The SFA are a completely biased organisation with a Glasgow view who hold back the rest of Scottish football and should be dissolved, to only attract £2M pounds for a competition such as the Scottish cup says that nobody is interested in Scottish football

A British league will potentially give us the access to far greater pool of cash, Edinburgh as one of the UK major cities will always be an attraction a.nd after a few years I could see Hibs, Hearts, the Infirm etc being there or there abouts as Premier league teams....thoughts?

Sir David Gray
28-08-2015, 07:47 PM
Personally I think that for Hibs, Hearts, the infirm and other large city clubs like Dundee to move forward we need a British league.

The SFA are a completely biased organisation with a Glasgow view who hold back the rest of Scottish football and should be dissolved, to only attract £2M pounds for a competition such as the Scottish cup says that nobody is interested in Scottish football

A British league will potentially give us the access to far greater pool of cash, Edinburgh as one of the UK major cities will always be an attraction a.nd after a few years I could see Hibs, Hearts, the Infirm etc being there or there abouts as Premier league teams....thoughts?

Why would England want to open their leagues up to Scottish teams, when they already have one of the most successful leagues in the world?

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 07:48 PM
Why would England want to open their leagues up to Scottish teams, when they already have one of the most successful leagues in the world?

Perhaps they won't but for me a British league is the way forward

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 07:50 PM
Why would England want to open their leagues up to Scottish teams, when they already have one of the most successful leagues in the world?

But perhaps their paymasters could see the benefit

Sir David Gray
28-08-2015, 08:04 PM
Perhaps they won't but for me a British league is the way forward

Not so sure to be honest, teams like Aberdeen, Hearts, Dundee Utd and us, when we eventually get our act together, currently have a chance of winning a cup every now and again and representing Scotland in Europe (even if it is only for two games). If we moved to England under a British league set up, we would have almost no chance of qualifying for Europe or winning a cup.

You could almost guarantee that we would lose the Scotland national side as well. There's lots of people within UEFA and FIFA who already resent the fact that there are four national sides coming from the United Kingdom, when none of those nations are sovereign states in their own right. If we then lose the Scottish league system and converted to a British league then that would give those people the ammunition they need to press ahead and campaign for one UK national team, which would almost certainly consist of a team full of English players plus Gareth Bale.

Pete
28-08-2015, 08:05 PM
Personally I think that for Hibs, Hearts, the infirm and other large city clubs like Dundee to move forward we need a British league.

The SFA are a completely biased organisation with a Glasgow view who hold back the rest of Scottish football and should be dissolved, to only attract £2M pounds for a competition such as the Scottish cup says that nobody is interested in Scottish football

A British league will potentially give us the access to far greater pool of cash, Edinburgh as one of the UK major cities will always be an attraction a.nd after a few years I could see Hibs, Hearts, the Infirm etc being there or there abouts as Premier league teams....thoughts?

:agree:

It probably won't happen but it would give us all the potential to escape this rotten situation and grow.

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 08:09 PM
I am not so sure about not able to win any cups, there are many examples recently where less fashionable EPL teams have won something, it's the access to funds that's key, one thing for sure Hibs will never ever again be the force they were in Europe that they were in the 50/60/70's in the current GFA set up.

I,would happily lose the Scottish national side over a Hibs team being a major European force, Scotland are a diminishing power and to be honest due to the mismanagement and institutionalised bias of the GFA I am unlikely to see them qualify for a major tournament again in my lifetime

Pretty Boy
28-08-2015, 08:11 PM
:agree:

It probably won't happen but it would give us all the potential to escape this rotten situation and grow.

An argument I have always put forward as well is that Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen are by no stretch of the imagination smaller clubs than the likes of Leicester, Wigan, Watford,Charlton ****ing Bournemouth and more than a few others who have graced the EPL over the years.

The money on offer down there has bloated the big clubs into global giants and a lot of ordinary clubs into something they are not. It's no wonder clubs like those listed above would be resistant to any Scottish infiltration as it would risk a smaller slice of the pie for them.

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 08:14 PM
Is it any coincidence that the Scottish National side were at their best when we had a much more even playing field in the SFA set up...

rcarter1
28-08-2015, 08:17 PM
Great enjoyable read, and totally agree with most of it. I love the bit here..

If we lost the Old Firm, we might struggle to hold onto our best players. Luckily, that doesn't happen now.

In short, Celtic and the SPL - :yawn:
In Europe I'm happy to support them, but its not anyone else's fault if they cant step to the plate. Join a bigger league, or eat lemons for all I care.

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 08:20 PM
An argument I have always put forward as well is that Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen are by no stretch of the imagination smaller clubs than the likes of Leicester, Wigan, Watford,Charlton ****ing Bournemouth and more than a few others who have graced the EPL over the years.

The money on offer down there has bloated the big clubs into global giants and a lot of ordinary clubs into something they are not. It's no wonder clubs like those listed above would be resistant to any Scottish infiltration as it would risk a smaller slice of the pie for them.

Agree but the paymaster calls the tune.....

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 08:22 PM
Great enjoyable read, and totally agree with most of it. I love the bit here..

If we lost the Old Firm, we might struggle to hold onto our best players. Luckily, that doesn't happen now.

In short, Celtic and the SPL - :yawn:
In Europe I'm happy to support them, but its not anyone else's fault if they cant step to the plate. Join a bigger league, or eat lemons for all I care.

I'm the opposite. I want them to lose,the European money only exacerbates the gap, cutting it off means change is more likely to happen

rcarter1
28-08-2015, 08:29 PM
I'm the opposite. I want them to lose,the European money only exacerbates the gap, cutting it off means change is more likely to happen

Fair dues, but If they get enough money they might start shopping in the Championship and the EPL, rather than in brain-dead fashion hoover up our players for relatively cheap, only to find that they don't quite make the grade at champions league level.

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 08:30 PM
And that's a bad thing......

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 08:32 PM
Like I say dissolving the GFA IMHO is the only way forward, even if we get promotion next year when in your opinion would Hibs be serious title contenders?, in my mind never.........we need to break the rotten mould that is Scottish football to progress

rcarter1
28-08-2015, 08:33 PM
And that's a bad thing......

How do you mean? I would love for Hibs to compete with Celtic and bridge the gap, but surely thats a stretch barring one off games.

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 08:34 PM
keeping your best players and developing them within a team context usually ends up with a better result......

rcarter1
28-08-2015, 08:37 PM
keeping your best players and developing them within a team context usually ends up with a better result......

Sure, but Celtic at the moment come a calling every time Hibs or Dundee Utd etc get a decent player. If they could afford to buy out of the league, we might stand a chance of keeping our better players for longer.

whiskyhibby
28-08-2015, 08:38 PM
Sure, but Celtic at the moment come a calling every time Hibs or Dundee Utd etc get a decent player. If they could afford to buy out of the league, we might stand a chance of keeping our better players for longer.

Sorry don't follow your logic, surely that's what they are doing today

rcarter1
28-08-2015, 08:46 PM
Sorry don't follow your logic, surely that's what they are doing today

We must be saying the same thing.. :greengrin
I agree that Celtic at the moment are taking as many SPL players they can get. What I mean, is that if they had gotten into the champions league this year, with the amount of money they made, their next few signings may have been a player from the EPL instead of an SPL player.

Eyrie
28-08-2015, 09:51 PM
Sure, but Celtic at the moment come a calling every time Hibs or Dundee Utd etc get a decent player. If they could afford to buy out of the league, we might stand a chance of keeping our better players for longer.
That won't narrow the gap between Septic and the rest of us, because the only reason they would buy elsewhere is because they can get a better standard of player than in Scotland.

The solution is obvious - Septic and Sevco Huns aren't wanted in England so they have no-one else to play except the other Scottish clubs. And the sooner the other Scottish clubs realise that and join together to stand up to the Ugly Sisters the better.

H18S NX
28-08-2015, 10:26 PM
That won't narrow the gap between Septic and the rest of us, because the only reason they would buy elsewhere is because they can get a better standard of player than in Scotland.

The solution is obvious - Septic and Sevco Huns aren't wanted in England so they have no-one else to play except the other Scottish clubs. And the sooner the other Scottish clubs realise that and join together to stand up to the Ugly Sisters the better. yep

Pete
28-08-2015, 11:05 PM
An argument I have always put forward as well is that Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen are by no stretch of the imagination smaller clubs than the likes of Leicester, Wigan, Watford,Charlton ****ing Bournemouth and more than a few others who have graced the EPL over the years.

The money on offer down there has bloated the big clubs into global giants and a lot of ordinary clubs into something they are not. It's no wonder clubs like those listed above would be resistant to any Scottish infiltration as it would risk a smaller slice of the pie for them.

The Scottish clubs you mention are probably the three biggest "losers" in the whole episode. Big, beautiful catchment areas and a rich history means bags of potential in the right circumstances. It's a shame we've almost been allowed to rot up here, trapped in this league for decades dominated by the glasgow clubs and the "attractions" they have in following them. Where would we be now if we had been part of a British set up years ago?

People say a lot of negative things about American sports but they have got one thing right: they know that without competitiveness, the product will die. Teams over there are part of a collective first and individual entities second. Over here, we are all totally separate entities who share practically no common interest apart from the country we play in. It's total dog-eat-dog and nobody seems to care about the golden goose dying as long as they are ok in the short term.

We need something brought in like the revenue sharing formula they have in baseball. There will be two big losers and everyone else will be a winner. Without this I reckon the game up here will slowly die due to lack of interest starting at the lower levels as people will just find something else to do in this digital age.

HappyAsHellas
28-08-2015, 11:21 PM
Everything about the money in the game and European competition (and I use the term loosely) is horribly wrong. A team like Hibs were a respected team in Europe although the chances of us winning anything were pretty remote. We couldn't qualify for the top competition and therefore played against similar also rans from differing countries. The playing field was pretty level, as opposed to nowadays when top teams in their own countries are "dropped" into the Europa league where they might ensure that no "minnow" club will ever again dine at the top table. Irrespective of the commonly held viewpoint, without the smaller clubs the game is well and truly ducked.
There will always be bigger teams with more spending power, but we have moved into a world of extremes nowadays with the usual suspects in every champions league being almost guaranteed to make it through to the final rounds. On a much smaller scale we look around at our own game and are too quick to write it off as inferior, whereas the figures tell us that our game is better supported per head of capita than the EPL. If only we had the right people at the top to use data like this to promote our game. Sadly the dithering clowns collectively known as the GFA have no interest apart from being subservient to the bigot brothers. I would love a league that didn't involve the OF as the competition would be intense with probably five or six clubs in with a chance of winning the league. Sadly it wont happen unless we take a leaf out of American football, where generally it is run with the view of everyone should have a sporting chance. This, of course, would require a major shake up of our game with people at the top who loved the game and wanted to see it flourish. Meanwhile, in the European backwater of football known as Scotland, the game is run by a bunch of morons who still look over the border, drooling, salivating, green faced with envy and their heads stuck up their own κωλος.

JimBHibees
29-08-2015, 07:11 AM
Everything about the money in the game and European competition (and I use the term loosely) is horribly wrong. A team like Hibs were a respected team in Europe although the chances of us winning anything were pretty remote. We couldn't qualify for the top competition and therefore played against similar also rans from differing countries. The playing field was pretty level, as opposed to nowadays when top teams in their own countries are "dropped" into the Europa league where they might ensure that no "minnow" club will ever again dine at the top table. Irrespective of the commonly held viewpoint, without the smaller clubs the game is well and truly ducked.
There will always be bigger teams with more spending power, but we have moved into a world of extremes nowadays with the usual suspects in every champions league being almost guaranteed to make it through to the final rounds. On a much smaller scale we look around at our own game and are too quick to write it off as inferior, whereas the figures tell us that our game is better supported per head of capita than the EPL. If only we had the right people at the top to use data like this to promote our game. Sadly the dithering clowns collectively known as the GFA have no interest apart from being subservient to the bigot brothers. I would love a league that didn't involve the OF as the competition would be intense with probably five or six clubs in with a chance of winning the league. Sadly it wont happen unless we take a leaf out of American football, where generally it is run with the view of everyone should have a sporting chance. This, of course, would require a major shake up of our game with people at the top who loved the game and wanted to see it flourish. Meanwhile, in the European backwater of football known as Scotland, the game is run by a bunch of morons who still look over the border, drooling, salivating, green faced with envy and their heads stuck up their own κωλος.

Quite simply a fantastic post. The utter nonsense of failed champions league teams dropping into another competition where some teams have been playing since June is absolutely laughable. Completely agree re Scottish football also if we didn't have the authorities and a lot of the press telling us how poor it is maybe more people would go.

Waxy
29-08-2015, 07:25 AM
Start with banning live scottish league matches unless we get significantly more money for it.

Weststandwanab
29-08-2015, 09:38 AM
I'm the opposite. I want them to lose,the European money only exacerbates the gap, cutting it off means change is more likely to happen

Ditto from me.

whiskyhibby
29-08-2015, 09:40 AM
Start with banning live scottish league matches unless we get significantly more money for it.

Agree [emoji106]

Eyrie
29-08-2015, 10:18 AM
People say a lot of negative things about American sports but they have got one thing right: they know that without competitiveness, the product will die. Teams over there are part of a collective first and individual entities second. Over here, we are all totally separate entities who share practically no common interest apart from the country we play in. It's total dog-eat-dog and nobody seems to care about the golden goose dying as long as they are ok in the short term.

We need something brought in like the revenue sharing formula they have in baseball. There will be two big losers and everyone else will be a winner. Without this I reckon the game up here will slowly die due to lack of interest starting at the lower levels as people will just find something else to do in this digital age.


Sadly it wont happen unless we take a leaf out of American football, where generally it is run with the view of everyone should have a sporting chance. This, of course, would require a major shake up of our game with people at the top who loved the game and wanted to see it flourish. Meanwhile, in the European backwater of football known as Scotland, the game is run by a bunch of morons who still look over the border, drooling, salivating, green faced with envy and their heads stuck up their own κωλος.

The comparison with the US is inaccurate. The NFL for example has 32 teams in one league that has no competition, so it is possible for it to be run for the overall good of the sport.

In Scotland we have 12 teams in the top league and 42 teams overall. But they aren't just competing with each other, they're competing for players with teams in England (common language and similar culture) and even throughout Europe. There are some measures that can be introduced (eg compensation for the home team in a TV game, fairer split of prize money) but others (eg a salary cap) are impractical because of the outside competition.

grunt
30-08-2015, 09:28 AM
Jim Spence weighs into the discussion

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/sport/football/spence-on-saturday-we-need-to-end-the-boredom-of-one-winner-1.897287


The Scottish Premiership needs to be won by a club outwith Parkhead soon or the game might wither and die of serial boredom. In the 30 years since Aberdeen last won the top division in 1984/85 season, the top title has ended up in one of two Glasgow trophy cabinets every season, the other being at Ibrox. That is damaging and unhealthy for the game and is evidence of absence of ambition from other clubs.

Not sure about that last part of the last sentence.

Smartie
30-08-2015, 09:41 AM
Jim Spence weighs into the discussion

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/sport/football/spence-on-saturday-we-need-to-end-the-boredom-of-one-winner-1.897287



Not sure about that last part of the last sentence.

It's a good article and I think the highlighted part isn't unreasonable.

I've long been irritated by talk of being "best of the rest" and "splitting the Old Firm".

Whilst the OF have a massive financial advantage and you would expect them to dominate I don't think it's that unreasonable to expect someone else to maybe grow a team from youth players and give them a push at least once in thirty years.

We were probably as close to growing a team to challenge them as anyone with our "Golden Generation" but as a club we were more interested at that time in being a real estate project than a football club so it came to nothing. I'd put that down to a lack of ambition.

Hearts have occasionally shown ambition but unfortunately it was wrapped up in delusion, fantasy and atrocious financial planning that but for a stroke of luck might have cost them their very club's existence.

Too many of the rest (see comments from twats like the Killie chairman) are just parasites who are only interested in hanging off the coat tails of the Old Firm.

It would be brilliant to see Aberdeen push them and pip them this year. If they don't then it'll just revert back to a media frenzy about when/ how The Rangers are going to get back challenging them. And let's be honest, that utterly tedious 2 horse race bigotfest bunfight isn't any more appealing than the status quo and any new fans that Aberdeen, Dundee United, Hearts, Dundee etc might have made will probably drift away again.

grunt
30-08-2015, 09:45 AM
... I don't think it's that unreasonable to expect someone else to maybe grow a team from youth players and give them a push at least once in thirty years.Yes but any time a team is grown, the OF just buy the best players. How many times have we lost our home grown talent to Celtic or Rangers? You might say that accepting their money shows a lack of ambition, but there are economic realities about needing money to keep the club going.

Smartie
30-08-2015, 10:27 AM
Yes but any time a team is grown, the OF just buy the best players. How many times have we lost our home grown talent to Celtic or Rangers? You might say that accepting their money shows a lack of ambition, but there are economic realities about needing money to keep the club going.

I think it is almost inevitable that players will be lost to the OF. The trick is to ensure that you get top dollar for those players and invest it wisely, and also to ensure that the player goes at the right time. Losing your best players for peanuts at the first sniff of interest is self-defeating. When a player can achieve no more with you and needs to step up a level at a time when there is good money on offer - that's when/how to sell. The smaller clubs aren't always the "victims" in these deals - sometimes it is the bigger club who pays over the odds for what they receive. We've done well out of some deals, been stung on others (at this stage I think the Scott Allan deal for example represents brilliant value for us).

I'm not saying this "growing a team" stuff should happen all the time - but I don't think once every 20 years or so is too much to ask. The lack of ambition and acceptance of the status quo in Scotland just gets on my nerves. Alex Ferguson at no point accepted the domination of the Old Firm as being an inevitability - there haven't been enough idealists prepared to challenge the idea of domination of the big two.

NAE NOOKIE
30-08-2015, 01:36 PM
As I recall Hibs were one of the clubs who backed home clubs keeping all the gate money back in the day, as things stand I cant see that stance changing when you look at some of the attendances in the Premiership at the moment compared to what we get even now. There is no chance of getting Celtic to agree to this either, they are all consumed by the Champions league and will do nothing to threaten their position at the top domestically and I highly doubt Hearts or Aberdeen would go for it for the same reasons as us.

IMO the only way to improve the finances for us and the rest is a bigger sellable Premiership packed with local derby matches and games like Aberdeen v Dundee Utd, Hibs v The Rangers, Hearts v Celtic and for there to be a much fairer distribution of the TV money, with every club getting an equal share .... that is the one concession the SFA / SPFL should be forcing the OF to accept for the good of everybody.

The thing the SPFL and their predecessors never seemed to have thought of is the distribution of fixtures. What is the point of for example playing all derby matches on the same weekend forcing the TV companies to chose one over the other .... these are our most sellable games.

Hibs v Hearts
Celtlc v The Rangers
Dundee v Dundee Utd
ICT v Ross County
Motherwell v Hamilton
Aberdeen v Celtic / The Rangers
Hibs v Celtic / The Rangers
Hearts v Celtic / The Rangers
Dundee Utd v Celtic The Rangers

None of these matches should be scheduled for the same weekend, meaning the TV folk will always have a big match to show.

There are other tasty fixtures like Dundee Utd v Aberdeen, Dundee v St Johnstone, Hibs and Hearts v Aberdeen and Dundee Utd that make good fillers.

rcarter1
30-08-2015, 06:03 PM
As I recall Hibs were one of the clubs who backed home clubs keeping all the gate money back in the day, as things stand I cant see that stance changing when you look at some of the attendances in the Premiership at the moment compared to what we get even now. There is no chance of getting Celtic to agree to this either, they are all consumed by the Champions league and will do nothing to threaten their position at the top domestically and I highly doubt Hearts or Aberdeen would go for it for the same reasons as us.

IMO the only way to improve the finances for us and the rest is a bigger sellable Premiership packed with local derby matches and games like Aberdeen v Dundee Utd, Hibs v The Rangers, Hearts v Celtic and for there to be a much fairer distribution of the TV money, with every club getting an equal share .... that is the one concession the SFA / SPFL should be forcing the OF to accept for the good of everybody.

The thing the SPFL and their predecessors never seemed to have thought of is the distribution of fixtures. What is the point of for example playing all derby matches on the same weekend forcing the TV companies to chose one over the other .... these are our most sellable games.

Hibs v Hearts
Celtlc v The Rangers
Dundee v Dundee Utd
ICT v Ross County
Motherwell v Hamilton
Aberdeen v Celtic / The Rangers
Hibs v Celtic / The Rangers
Hearts v Celtic / The Rangers
Dundee Utd v Celtic The Rangers

None of these matches should be scheduled for the same weekend, meaning the TV folk will always have a big match to show.

There are other tasty fixtures like Dundee Utd v Aberdeen, Dundee v St Johnstone, Hibs and Hearts v Aberdeen and Dundee Utd that make good fillers.

I like this idea, although not knowing how it currently works, not sure if some teams would benefit more than others?

I think the Old Firm would most benefit by creating their own league, and play each every other week. They could hardly blame each other for their subsequent European failures.

majorhibs
30-08-2015, 06:34 PM
I am not so sure about not able to win any cups, there are many examples recently where less fashionable EPL teams have won something, it's the access to funds that's key, one thing for sure Hibs will never ever again be the force they were in Europe that they were in the 50/60/70's in the current GFA set up.

I,would happily lose the Scottish national side over a Hibs team being a major European force, Scotland are a diminishing power and to be honest due to the mismanagement and institutionalised bias of the GFA I am unlikely to see them qualify for a major tournament again in my lifetime

Sorry, but just speak for your self here, & don't come across with this self centred drivel about what "you" want from Football. Sorry again, but all these zoomers who keep going on about what "they" want or don't want from National Football make my blood boil. It's got zilch to do with self centred individuals & everything to do with the actual supporters who attend. Not rocket science. Not for you? Try cricket or something. Please. Plenty genuine supporters bored with this casual dissing from afar from the net mafia who don't go anyway but tune in on TV.

CockneyRebel
30-08-2015, 06:50 PM
Sorry, but just speak for your self here, & don't come across with this self centred drivel about what "you" want from Football. Sorry again, but all these zoomers who keep going on about what "they" want or don't want from National Football make my blood boil. It's got zilch to do with self centred individuals & everything to do with the actual supporters who attend. Not rocket science. Not for you? Try cricket or something. Please. Plenty genuine supporters bored with this casual dissing from afar from the net mafia who don't go anyway but tune in on TV.

I think he was speaking for himself, that's what this forum was set up for, to give your viewpoint and say what you'd like to see happen . Your reply seemed just as self centred as his post If you only want to hear stuff you agree with you have to open your own forum and only accept posts from yourself.
By the way, I don't agree with anything he says - just his right to say it.

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 06:54 PM
Sorry, but just speak for your self here, & don't come across with this self centred drivel about what "you" want from Football. Sorry again, but all these zoomers who keep going on about what "they" want or don't want from National Football make my blood boil. It's got zilch to do with self centred individuals & everything to do with the actual supporters who attend. Not rocket science. Not for you? Try cricket or something. Please. Plenty genuine supporters bored with this casual dissing from afar from the net mafia who don't go anyway but tune in on TV.

Sorry if it offends you but that's my opinion, and in my eyes Hibs come before a National team, who have done next to nothing for the last 30y

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 06:55 PM
And ps I have attended Scotland matches in the past

Scouse Hibee
30-08-2015, 06:57 PM
Sorry, but just speak for your self here, & don't come across with this self centred drivel about what "you" want from Football. Sorry again, but all these zoomers who keep going on about what "they" want or don't want from National Football make my blood boil. It's got zilch to do with self centred individuals & everything to do with the actual supporters who attend. Not rocket science. Not for you? Try cricket or something. Please. Plenty genuine supporters bored with this casual dissing from afar from the net mafia who don't go anyway but tune in on TV.

Bit strong, the guy is giving his opinion, he could just as well turn your post around and say if reading folks opinions on the net is not for you, try reading a book and leave the internet alone.

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 06:59 PM
Sorry, but just speak for your self here, & don't come across with this self centred drivel about what "you" want from Football. Sorry again, but all these zoomers who keep going on about what "they" want or don't want from National Football make my blood boil. It's got zilch to do with self centred individuals & everything to do with the actual supporters who attend. Not rocket science. Not for you? Try cricket or something. Please. Plenty genuine supporters bored with this casual dissing from afar from the net mafia who don't go anyway but tune in on TV.

And WTF has cricket got to do with it, or are you a typical SNP troll?

Pretty Boy
30-08-2015, 07:01 PM
Guys calm it down eh?

We don't need people calling each other zoomers, trolls or whatever else.

We're all adults so lets act like it and debate our points sensibly. Cheers.

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 07:08 PM
Ps thanks for the support guys, there's too much of this sort of trolling in Scotland nowadays, mention the word British in a sentence ( in this case a British league) and suddenly your the anti-Christ

ronaldo7
30-08-2015, 07:50 PM
Personally I think that for Hibs, Hearts, the infirm and other large city clubs like Dundee to move forward we need a British league.

The SFA are a completely biased organisation with a Glasgow view who hold back the rest of Scottish football and should be dissolved, to only attract £2M pounds for a competition such as the Scottish cup says that nobody is interested in Scottish football

A British league will potentially give us the access to far greater pool of cash, Edinburgh as one of the UK major cities will always be an attraction a.nd after a few years I could see Hibs, Hearts, the Infirm etc being there or there abouts as Premier league teams....thoughts?

I'd be interested to know what was in it for clubs in the rest of the UK? Why would they want a British League?

How would the people of Manchester or Wolverhampton take to another visit from the Huns on a Saturday afternoon in August.

The rest of the Uk (predominantly England) don't need to change a system they've built to succeed for their own clubs.

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 07:53 PM
I'd be interested to know what was in it for clubs in the rest of the UK? Why would they want a British League?

How would the people of Manchester or Wolverhampton take to another visit from the Huns on a Saturday afternoon in August.

The rest of the Uk (predominantly England) don't need to change a system they've built to succeed for their own clubs.

It's not the clubs it's the paymasters, Scotland has some of the great cities and clubs of the UK, Edinburgh is a world renowned city, the global TV audience that watches the English leagues I think would buy into a British league

ronaldo7
30-08-2015, 07:56 PM
It's not the clubs it's the paymasters, Scotland has some of the great cities and clubs of the UK, Edinburgh is a world renowned city, the global TV audience that watches the English leagues I think would buy into a British league

So what are the English clubs getting from it? They have it all at the moment.

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 07:58 PM
Nothing other than a possibly wider TV audience, and thus bigger pot of money, but in my opinion it's unlikely to happen due to the vested interest you have identified

ronaldo7
30-08-2015, 08:02 PM
Nothing other than a possibly wider TV audience, and thus bigger pot of money, but in my opinion it's unlikely to happen due to the vested interest you have identified

If their's nothing in it for the English clubs, it's a non starter imo.

We've heard all the talk of a Nordic tie up, European leagues and the likes.

First and foremost, we need to get the **** out of the league we're currently in.:aok:

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 08:03 PM
If their's nothing in it for the English clubs, it's a non starter imo.

We've heard all the talk of a Nordic tie up, European leagues and the likes.

First and foremost, we need to get the **** out of the league we're currently in.:aok:

Why are we interested in getting out of this league, whilst Hibs should always be playing at the top of Scottish football, what is the point in participating in a competition that you have no chance of winning?

ronaldo7
30-08-2015, 08:11 PM
Why are we interested in getting out of this league, whilst Hibs should always be playing at the top of Scottish football, what is the point in participating in a competition that you have no chance of winning?

I meant the current League we're in, (Championship).

I'm happy competing in the top competition of the country my team resides. The European jaunts will have to go on hold until we get our act together again.

We compete in the Scottish cup every year too. Do you think we should just give it a bye:dunno:

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 08:13 PM
The cups are different, but the league is a one or two horse race, something needs to be done to make it more competitive or else we are never going to be any sort of force in Europe ever again, hence the discussion about a possible British league

Pretty Boy
30-08-2015, 08:14 PM
If their's nothing in it for the English clubs, it's a non starter imo.

We've heard all the talk of a Nordic tie up, European leagues and the likes.

First and foremost, we need to get the **** out of the league we're currently in.:aok:

Key point there imo.

There's been a lot of chat about a European Super League, Atlantic League and god knows what else. However as far as I'm aware there has been no real in depth research done, recently at any rate, into how it would work, finances, desire for it etc. I keep hearing it's inevitable but it seems a long way off to me.

Following on from that I wonder how likely it is Celtic would be invited to the top table. There are a few obvious candidates (Man Utd, Barcelona, AC Milan, Bayern Munich etc) but if it was made up of about 16 teams or so I think Celtic might find themselves alongside the likes of Ajax, Atletico Madrid and Porto for example in just missing out. Is there an appeal for a 2 tier system? Would the clubs I've mentioned above be willing to give up the lucrative TV deal in their own country, certainly the English clubs and the big 2 in Spain, for a risky shot at a league with far greater logistical costs? What would happen to the Champions League, another gold mine for the elite?

The point I am trying to make is that every club in Scotland would do well to remind Celtic, and Rangers again at some point in the future, that without us they have nowhere to go and no one to play. England doesn't want them, I firmly believe any continental league is a long way off so they are stuck here for the time being. That's not a bad bargaining position to be in. I often wonder what would have happened had the 'rebel ten' stood their ground a few years ago. A change to the voting structure that essentially gives Celtic and Rangers a veto on everything should be the first change followed by a fairer distribution of TV money and then a bigger top level league. None of those unreasonable and all potentially positive changes to the game up here.

ronaldo7
30-08-2015, 08:17 PM
The cups are different, but the league is a one or two horse race, something needs to be done to make it more competitive or else we are never going to be any sort of force in Europe ever again, hence the discussion about a possible British league

Or Atlantic League, or European League.

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 08:17 PM
Yes absolutely

ronaldo7
30-08-2015, 08:21 PM
Yes absolutely

Absolutely YES:aok:

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 08:22 PM
Key point there imo.

There's been a lot of chat about a European Super League, Atlantic League and god knows what else. However as far as I'm aware there has been no real in depth research done, recently at any rate, into how it would work, finances, desire for it etc. I keep hearing it's inevitable but it seems a long way off to me.

Following on from that I wonder how likely it is Celtic would be invited to the top table. There are a few obvious candidates (Man Utd, Barcelona, AC Milan, Bayern Munich etc) but if it was made up of about 16 teams or so I think Celtic might find themselves alongside the likes of Ajax, Atletico Madrid and Porto for example in just missing out. Is there an appeal for a 2 tier system? Would the clubs I've mentioned above be willing to give up the lucrative TV deal in their own country, certainly the English clubs and the big 2 in Spain, for a risky shot at a league with far greater logistical costs? What would happen to the Champions League, another gold mine for the elite?

The point I am trying to make is that every club in Scotland would do well to remind Celtic, and Rangers again at some point in the future, that without us they have nowhere to go and no one to play. England doesn't want them, I firmly believe any continental league is a long way off so they are stuck here for the time being. That's not a bad bargaining position to be in. I often wonder what would have happened had the 'rebel ten' stood their ground a few years ago. A change to the voting structure that essentially gives Celtic and Rangers a veto on everything should be the first change followed by a fairer distribution of TV money and then a bigger top level league. None of those unreasonable and all potentially positive changes to the game up here.

A lot of good points there and your right the only reason the Old firm remain in Scotland is because it's an easy ticket to the CL ( assuming you have a half decent team and Manager)

For me I want Hibs to be a force in Europe, with the one sided league we have at the moment it's never going to happen unless a Russian Billionaire buys us !

whiskyhibby
30-08-2015, 08:22 PM
Absolutely YES:aok:

..............?

Eyrie
30-08-2015, 09:55 PM
The point I am trying to make is that every club in Scotland would do well to remind Celtic, and Rangers again at some point in the future, that without us they have nowhere to go and no one to play. England doesn't want them, I firmly believe any continental league is a long way off so they are stuck here for the time being. That's not a bad bargaining position to be in. I often wonder what would have happened had the 'rebel ten' stood their ground a few years ago. A change to the voting structure that essentially gives Celtic and Rangers a veto on everything should be the first change followed by a fairer distribution of TV money and then a bigger top level league. None of those unreasonable and all potentially positive changes to the game up here.

This should be sent to the chairmen and chief executives of all forty football clubs in Scotland to remind them that power does not lie exclusively with the undesirable other two.

Ringothedog
30-08-2015, 10:22 PM
The cups are different, but the league is a one or two horse race, something needs to be done to make it more competitive or else we are never going to be any sort of force in Europe ever again, hence the discussion about a possible British league
So we leave a Scottish league we have a small chance of winning to join a British league that we would have absolutely no chance of winning. You are having a laugh.

Lucius Apuleius
31-08-2015, 09:21 AM
I like this idea, although not knowing how it currently works, not sure if some teams would benefit more than others?

I think the Old Firm would most benefit by creating their own league, and play each every other week. They could hardly blame each other for their subsequent European failures.
Your last paragraph sums it up perfectly for me and is an argument I have used against Huns for many yearsusually after being asked why I support a sheochtteam like Hibs.They just don't get it.

NAE NOOKIE
31-08-2015, 10:51 AM
So we leave a Scottish league we have a small chance of winning to join a British league that we would have absolutely no chance of winning. You are having a laugh.

I genuinely think the difference here is that the majority of fans down south seem happy to support teams chugging along at the level they deem acceptable. People following what in European terms are big clubs like Everton and West Ham seem to have accepted that their teams have no chance of winning the EPL, but still turn out anyway. Being in the EPL is reward enough it seems.

For fans of Championship clubs the dream isn't of one day winning the EPL, the dream is just getting there.

Don't anybody kid themselves. If the OF were ever admitted to the English leagues they would be huge clubs in that set up. As for Hibs and the Yams I for one have little doubt that we would be attractive prospects for investment in a bigger set up ..... the very attraction of Edinburgh as a city is a bit of a trump card for us, which is currently of not much use in the market we are in just now ..... that would change in a British set up IMO.

Keith_M
31-08-2015, 11:02 AM
So we leave a Scottish league we have a small chance of winning to join a British league that we would have absolutely no chance of winning. You are having a laugh.


Be honest, we have no chance of winning either. Hibs last league championship was 63 years ago. The last time we genuinely competed for the league was about 40 years ago.

What would change would be the standard of player we could attract and a correspondingly much higher standard of opposition.

Clubs would find their place, with teams like Hibs probably being about Championship/League One standard and teams like Celtc and Rangers (like it or not) being middling Premiership teams. Yes, there would be the odd variation to this, where Hibs could possibly achieve what Bournemouth, Watford or Swansea have done, but that would be the exception.



p.s. This is all theoretical, as there's never going to be a British League. As others have said, there's nothing in it for the teams in England, so it's a non-starter

NAE NOOKIE
31-08-2015, 11:37 AM
Be honest, we have no chance of winning either. Hibs last league championship was 63 years ago. The last time we genuinely competed for the league was about 40 years ago.

What would change would be the standard of player we could attract and a correspondingly much higher standard of opposition.

Clubs would find their place, with teams like Hibs probably being about Championship/League One standard and teams like Celtc and Rangers (like it or not) being middling Premiership teams. Yes, there would be the odd variation to this, where Hibs could possibly achieve what Bournemouth, Watford or Swansea have done, but that would be the exception.



p.s. This is all theoretical, as there's never going to be a British League. As others have said, there's nothing in it for the teams in England, so it's a non-starter

Your post is bang on IMO but I don't think the last bit is 100% a fait accompli.

The one hope here is the TV companies ...... Its not a total fantasy to think that one of these days they might decide the EPL / Lower leagues are becoming a bit stale, especially if viewer figures start to drop off. What better way to spice things up than to chuck a few Scottish clubs into the mix. In football the loudest ( the only ) voice is money. If SKY / BT put it to the FA and Football league that this is what they want and the current huge deal continuing depends on it, just watch the English clubs rushing to get out the welcome mats and start baking a cake.

I'm not saying it will ever happen, but its not impossible. If that means getting rid of just the OF or the 5 or 6 biggest Scottish clubs joining the English set up we win either way.

Waxy
31-08-2015, 11:43 AM
I'd have a superbowl type league decider at the end of the season. 1st goes straight to the final 2nd v 3rd play off to meet them. It's probably the way for Scottish football to go.Otherwise boredom will drive us to other sports.

NAE NOOKIE
31-08-2015, 11:53 AM
I'd have a superbowl type league decider at the end of the season. 1st goes straight to the final 2nd v 3rd play off to meet them. It's probably the way for Scottish football to go.Otherwise boredom will drive us to other sports.

I think the Dutch tried something similar but binned it after a bit. Its all about Celtic again ..... why would they risk their Champions League place in a one off game after winning the league by 15 points. Knowing Hibs luck the season this was introduced we would finish top of the league and lose the 'Superbowl' :greengrin

rcarter1
31-08-2015, 11:54 AM
I'd have a superbowl type league decider at the end of the season. 1st goes straight to the final 2nd v 3rd play off to meet them. It's probably the way for Scottish football to go.Otherwise boredom will drive us to other sports.

Something like this would add a lot of excitement for many clubs. Even Rangers could be tempted into this in the short term, but Celtic would have kittens, and if any team finished 25 points clear in 1st, they would feel a bit cheated. I don't think it would feel the same though as actually winning a 38 game league.

since90plustwo
31-08-2015, 12:18 PM
Is it any coincidence that the Scottish National side were at their best when we had a much more even playing field in the SFA set up...

To be fair the national side is doing very well at this moment in time