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Scottish Football 2013-14

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    #51
    Scottish Football 2013-14

    AMMS wrote:
    Right, you really think his goal in this is to get Welsh clubs thrown out of English leagues? The only people he's playing politics with are the SPL and Sky and I don't need to think very hard to know that.
    No. His ultimate goal is to get Rangers into the English leagues. That's all too clear. But we're going to be the wedge.

    And that's probably going to make our status a political issue again.

    Comment


      #52
      Scottish Football 2013-14

      BLT is on the money, here. The Green statement was pretty clear, and given his comments regarding using sex discrimination laws against UEFA it seems to me to be pretty clear that he is either playing to the Rangers gallery or that he would use whatever means necessary to get Rangers into English football, and if that means using lawyers to drag Welsh clubs - against both their will and the will of the overwhelming majority of English supporters, I'd say - would I put that past him? Well, no. I wouldn't.

      Comment


        #53
        Scottish Football 2013-14

        AMMS wrote: This is a fallacy, we've two big clubs, 4 or so clubs below them with similar resources and potential fanbase and then 10 or so clubs below them again who have very similar resources and fanbases. We could have a 16 team league without any problem, it would be considerably more competitive than the current one that's for sure.
        Dundee's struggles this season don't really support this or the 11th place Ross find themselves in, if one of reasonable comfort. There appears to be a small bunch of other clubs that yo-yo between the bottom of the SPL and top of the SFL1 in Dunfermline, Inverness, Falkirk, St. Mirren. It looks pretty stratified from afar.
        Celtic are sleepwalking to the title, I don't get how admitting four more weaker clubs at the bottom end is going to change that. I can see how it might feel more varied and therefore more interesting to follow, but can't really see why it would be more competitive.

        Comment


          #54
          Scottish Football 2013-14

          I get the point about opposition managers always referring to Scottish teams' commitment and will-to-win instead of our skill. Well, we're a very small nation, very few countries of our size ever produce world class technical players (of course Uruguay are the obvious exception, and being stuck between Argentina & Brazil, two of the most technical nations in the history of the sport, is largely to blame for that). Do Finland or Norway or Ireland or Georgia have any world class players?

          There are many things we can do to improve the standard of player, but for me they're almost entirely coaching-related, not about the particular pattern of meaning in matches players play. If meaningless matches were better for player development, youth players wouldn't go out on loan "for first team football". Rangers just sent an 18 year old striker up a division, to Alloa, not to do Paul Hartley a favour, but because we think it'll help the kid develop faster than reserve football.

          There's also a necessity - and I'm not peculiar on this - to keep the interest (and money) of the fans which is, to a large extent, about excitement. Fans all over the world are abandoning their weak local leagues - or never taking them up in the first place - in favour of the Premiership on a warm sofa with a television. Clearly young Scots aren't exempt from that, I'm sure we all know Scots who claim to support Man U or Chelsea instead of their local team, and we're not going to reverse that trend with meaningless football.

          Clearly there's a balance to be struck but I don't accept the idea that competitiveness is to blame, to any significant extent, for the decline of Scottish football.

          Comment


            #55
            Scottish Football 2013-14

            Bizarre Löw Triangle wrote:
            Originally posted by AMMS
            Right, you really think his goal in this is to get Welsh clubs thrown out of English leagues? The only people he's playing politics with are the SPL and Sky and I don't need to think very hard to know that.
            No. His ultimate goal is to get Rangers into the English leagues. That's all too clear. But we're going to be the wedge.

            And that's probably going to make our status a political issue again.
            I doubt that is his ultimate goal. He's stated very clearly he'll leave with his loot before we're back in the Scottish top flight, the 12 to 15 years at best it would take us to do that in England is not in his plan.
            If he wanted us to join England he'd have done it in the summer when we were literally league-less and had no SFA membership.

            Green is playing a canny PR game here. The SPL have tried, and might have succeeded, to buy off the Div 1 teams so they can include all the SPL clubs in TV negotiations. Without Rangers the TV deal for the SPL clubs is considerably reduced, the viewing figures this season don't lie about who the audience actually want to watch. The Sky deal ends this season and ESPN have a break clause in their contract at the end of this season too.

            This is a power play. The SPL clubs need Rangers included in the TV deal. They propose reconstruction to achieve that. Green is pissed because not only don't Rangers have a vote they haven't even been consulted. Threatening leaving is simply raising the stakes a bit, trying to get a seat at the table.

            Even if he was serious it's hardly likely to affect Swansea, we played an English side today, there are examples of clubs playing in other FA jurisdictions all over the world. There is no reason why Rangers, or any other Scottish side couldn't play in England if someone chose to really pursue it, Gretna were playing the English pyramid before getting league status up here.

            Relax and enjoy your season, you don't need to look for enemies where there aren't any.

            Comment


              #56
              Scottish Football 2013-14

              Janik wrote:
              Originally posted by AMMS
              This is a fallacy, we've two big clubs, 4 or so clubs below them with similar resources and potential fanbase and then 10 or so clubs below them again who have very similar resources and fanbases. We could have a 16 team league without any problem, it would be considerably more competitive than the current one that's for sure.
              Dundee's struggles this season don't really support this or the 11th place Ross find themselves in, if one of reasonable comfort. There appears to be a small bunch of other clubs that yo-yo between the bottom of the SPL and top of the SFL1 in Dunfermline, Inverness, Falkirk, St. Mirren. It looks pretty stratified from afar.
              Celtic are sleepwalking to the title, I don't get how admitting four more weaker clubs at the bottom end is going to change that. I can see how it might feel more varied and therefore more interesting to follow, but can't really see why it would be more competitive.
              Nah, Dundee's current league placing is as much down to them not knowing what league they were playing in until a week before the season started. ICT are currently 2nd top and got promoted a couple of seasons ago.

              Admitting 4 more 'weaker' clubs changes the league from 4 games a season to two. It allows mid-table clubs to build a team and blood youngsters. Stability makes a difference to clubs.

              Comment


                #57
                Scottish Football 2013-14

                Bizarre Löw Triangle wrote:
                Originally posted by AMMS
                Right, you really think his goal in this is to get Welsh clubs thrown out of English leagues? The only people he's playing politics with are the SPL and Sky and I don't need to think very hard to know that.
                No. His ultimate goal is to get Rangers into the English leagues. That's all too clear. But we're going to be the wedge.

                And that's probably going to make our status a political issue again.
                I think Swansea's current position is more likely to promote a reaction than anything Rangers do to be honest BLT

                Comment


                  #58
                  Scottish Football 2013-14

                  We're all one big happy family again, woohoo! http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22864944

                  Scottish Football League clubs have voted in favour of a proposed merger with the Scottish Premier League .
                  The bodies will form a new Scottish Professional Football League in time for next season, averting a threatened breakaway from Division One clubs.
                  A revised financial distribution model will be introduced, feeding more money into the second tier.
                  The league structure will remain the same, with a top flight of 12 and three lower divisions of 10.


                  Well I for one can't wait for next season now.

                  Comment


                    #59
                    Scottish Football 2013-14

                    Welcome to the new league, same as the old league ...

                    Comment


                      #60
                      Scottish Football 2013-14

                      Oh no, it'll be very different, it's got a new name and everything. Plus we're riding a wave of optimism after hammering Croatia.

                      Comment


                        #61
                        Scottish Football 2013-14

                        Hearts put their entire squad up for sale

                        Comment


                          #62
                          Scottish Football 2013-14

                          Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote: Hearts put their entire squad up for sale
                          Quite what we'll do with that £30,000 remains to be seen.

                          Comment


                            #63
                            Scottish Football 2013-14

                            Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote: Hearts put their entire squad up for sale
                            You have to think it's a matter of when, not if, the administrators are called in to Tynecastle.
                            The HMRC bill wasn't settled in full earlier this week, and it doesn't look likely that anyone's getting paid this weekend.

                            But this..."Due to recent unexpected circumstances away from Tynecastle, the club is now experiencing a shortfall in funding. This shortfall, due to recent uncertainty, has created a significant noticeable blockage in projected revenue streams for the club.
                            While this hesitation is understandable, it is unwittingly damaging the club's current efforts to improve its financial situation, including current payments to HMRC and raising doubts over future payments to players and staff" ...really grinds my gears.

                            I'm sorry, but this is the inevitable outcome of Romanovs disastrous tenure down Gorgie way. The only reason Hearts are entwined with the collapse of UBIG, Ukio Bankas etc. is thanks to their lunatic Chairman, so it's hardly unexpected is it? Just about every Jambo you speak to has seen this ticking timebomb in the distance. To then try and apportion a degree of blame on the fans for their reluctance to fork out their hard-earned cash for season tickets, knowing that something like this was looming ever closer, well that's just insulting.
                            Perhaps the "club spokesman" should grow a pair and tell it like it is, and how every Hearts fan sees it. After all his wage packet will be empty tomorrow, so what's he got to lose?

                            Comment


                              #64
                              Scottish Football 2013-14

                              Do Rangers get a vote in this new body?

                              Comment


                                #65
                                Scottish Football 2013-14

                                Albert Ferrer and Pako Ayestaran applying for the Kilmarnock job according to Guillem Belague.

                                Comment


                                  #66
                                  Scottish Football 2013-14

                                  dalliance wrote: Do Rangers get a vote in this new body?
                                  The Rangers?

                                  Comment


                                    #67
                                    Scottish Football 2013-14

                                    Quincy wrote: Albert Ferrer and Pako Ayestaran applying for the Kilmarnock job according to Guillem Belague.
                                    Seems to be a job that attracts interesting candidates, Thomas Hassler applied last time round. God knows why anyone would want to work for that snake of a chairman though.

                                    Comment


                                      #68
                                      Scottish Football 2013-14

                                      It must be surely have been a lifestyle choice ahead of a professional one: who wouldn't want the chance to sample Kilmarnock's vibrant cosmopolitan air.

                                      Comment


                                        #69
                                        Scottish Football 2013-14

                                        I spent a short period commuting between Kilmarnock and Prestwick Airport.

                                        God, the tedium: it was like living inertia.

                                        Comment


                                          #70
                                          Scottish Football 2013-14

                                          dalliance wrote: It must be surely have been a lifestyle choice ahead of a professional one: who wouldn't want the chance to sample Kilmarnock's vibrant cosmopolitan air.
                                          Kilmarnock's vibrant cosmopolitan air in a nutshell:

                                          Comment


                                            #71
                                            Scottish Football 2013-14

                                            TheRedMax wrote:
                                            Originally posted by Rogin the Armchair Fan
                                            You have to think it's a matter of when, not if, the administrators are called in to Tynecastle.
                                            The HMRC bill wasn't settled in full earlier this week, and it doesn't look likely that anyone's getting paid this weekend.

                                            But this..."Due to recent unexpected circumstances away from Tynecastle, the club is now experiencing a shortfall in funding. This shortfall, due to recent uncertainty, has created a significant noticeable blockage in projected revenue streams for the club.
                                            While this hesitation is understandable, it is unwittingly damaging the club's current efforts to improve its financial situation, including current payments to HMRC and raising doubts over future payments to players and staff" ...really grinds my gears.

                                            I'm sorry, but this is the inevitable outcome of Romanovs disastrous tenure down Gorgie way. The only reason Hearts are entwined with the collapse of UBIG, Ukio Bankas etc. is thanks to their lunatic Chairman, so it's hardly unexpected is it? Just about every Jambo you speak to has seen this ticking timebomb in the distance. To then try and apportion a degree of blame on the fans for their reluctance to fork out their hard-earned cash for season tickets, knowing that something like this was looming ever closer, well that's just insulting.
                                            Perhaps the "club spokesman" should grow a pair and tell it like it is, and how every Hearts fan sees it. After all his wage packet will be empty tomorrow, so what's he got to lose?
                                            Hopefully the last example of that kind of pish we're going to have to put up with mate. Has to be said that there were too many fellow Hearts fans willing to go along with this madness though and that's why we find ourselves where we are.

                                            Stick a fork in it, it's done.

                                            Where it goes from here I don't know and find it hard to care.

                                            Comment


                                              #72
                                              Scottish Football 2013-14

                                              dalliance wrote: It must be surely have been a lifestyle choice ahead of a professional one: who wouldn't want the chance to sample Kilmarnock's vibrant cosmopolitan air.
                                              The Brass & Granite was good before the Junior Cup final a couple of years back but then vibrant/cosmopolitan maybe just isn't me.

                                              Comment


                                                #73
                                                Scottish Football 2013-14

                                                RobM wrote: Where it goes from here I don't know and find it hard to care.
                                                Nah, you care, of course you do. And so do tens of thousands of other Jambos, and that's why in the end you'll be rid of that clown Romanov and all the nonsense that he brought with him.
                                                Hell, I'm no lover of Hearts but even I care (a bit) about how it ends up for you guys.

                                                It may be that administration is the best way to achieve the removal of the Lithuanian tumour thats killing your club. A 15 point penalty and the inevitable reduction in the playing staff will probably mean relegation next season, but it is a chance to put the club back in the hands of proper Hearts people.
                                                And that makes it a price worth paying in the long run.

                                                All the best mate, it's a crucial couple of weeks for your club.

                                                Comment


                                                  #74
                                                  Scottish Football 2013-14

                                                  I've just been reading about Bobby Seith, the cultured right half for Burnley and Dundee in both clubs glory years.

                                                  Seith won Division One in England with Burnley in 1960 (although wasn't given his winners medal until 1999 after falling out with local meat autocrat Bob Lord) then won Division One in Scotland with the celebrated Dundee side in 1962.

                                                  This got me thinking. I can't for the life of me think of another Scottish footballer with the exception of Graeme Souness at Liverpool then Rangers, who first won the top division in England before winning it in Scotland.

                                                  Any help? I've got a funny feeling there's going to be some d'oh! moments.

                                                  Comment


                                                    #75
                                                    Scottish Football 2013-14

                                                    Nigel Spackman with Liverpool and then Rangers.

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